France/Spain/UK 2018

8/4/2018

It took us a long time in the morning doing all the little jobs that had to be done before we headed off on our trip. It was 12.50 when we wheeled our suitcases down the road to catch the 55 bus into Geelong, then got the V/Line train to the city. I did a quick trip on the trams up to Birdlife Australia in Carlton to sort out some stuff then we got the train out to Broadmeadows then the Smartbus route 901 to the airport arriving in good time for our flight. We had time to grab a 1/2 roll each from Subway at the airport, which is popular with the workers it being the most reasonably priced eatery there. Getting through security was much quicker than it used to be  so we had plenty of time to lounge around in the departure lounge before our flight at 21.30 on an A380 run by Qatar airways. We departed on time and I soon had the headphones on watching The Shape of Water, a strange but ultimately good movie, then The Defenders, one of the Marvel series, also entertaining. Then I watched a few TV series, such Dr Who series 10. With the music I found  their selection unappetizing, and I didn’t try any of the games. I had no probs with my screen but Bev’s seized up several times, my handset seized up but the screen was a touch screen so I just used that. The food was pretty ordinary, if it was served to me in a restaurant I’d be sending it back, the exception was the Upla  and sambhar breakfast served at 4am which was reasonably tasty without being too spicy.

19/4

We arrived in Doha on time just after sunrise, we found our way around in the vast airport, so big that at one point we caught the driverless internal train to get to our departure lounge. Again we departed on time and again I soon had the headphones on, from their entire collection of Starwars movies I watched Rouge 1, then some of the Blue Planet 2 series as we skirted around the east of Iraq and over Turkey, before we landed in Paris after having a fly by the northern Alps all resplendent in their snowy caps. We caught the train in to Gard du Nord then the route 26 bus to our hotel the Comfort Hotel Davout, it’s a small room on the third floor, but with double glazing and a very quiet A/C, for A$75 a night it’s not to bad. Our only complaint about the room was that the mattress sagged in the middle. We dumped our stuff in the room and went for a walk down to the Seine river to get a shot of Notre Dame in the late afternoon. We had dinner at Cafe Panis nearby where I tried the escargot and found them quite tasty though you don’t get much snail, great bread here though. In the dark we made several mistakes getting back, so we crashed as soon as we got back to the room.

20/4

It was 8.30 when we strolled down the road to have breakfast of chocolate croissant and freshly crushed orange juice. We then went to an ATM and took out €1000 and split it up between us. We bought a day ticket for the metro and went to the Eiffel Tower, there were queues but they weren’t astronomical  so we did the €16ea to the second level, wandered around then went down to the first level to have a hot panini and share a giant donut. Back through the metro to the Arc Du Triomph and the Champs Ellysses, which the police had cleared as the president was coming along in an hour or so. I had to ask a guy with a machine gun if I could take a shot of the empty road past the blockade of police vehicles, he escorted me through them and allowed me one shot. From there we went to Sacre Coeur cathedral, they were having a service during our visit which added to the beautiful ambiance having the organ playing and the choir singing etc. I went for a stroll around Montmartre then headed back down the hill.  We got the metro back to the Seine where we found a free toilet that had toilet paper in it, both a rarity. The day had gotten away from us and so we found the restaurant Le Moliare and I had their cheeseburger, which was almost tartare but I found refreshingly interesting as the meat was unspiced, but at €12.50 with a good plate of french fries, as usual quite expensive. We got the metro back to the hotel via the Sahbi Patisserie just across the road from our hotel getting a fruit eclair and a fruit vanilla slice, we took them back to the room and had half of both of them each. It was soon bed time.

21/4

Up at dawn and had breakfast at the hotel which was a buffet, so we filled up, we walked down to the Metro and got a ticket to Orly airport, we realized too late that we were supposed to go to Antony for the free shuttle to the airport instead we went to Villejuif Lois Aragon  and had to catch the tram to the airport which cost an extra €1.90ea and only went to Orly Sud so had to catch the shuttle to Orly Ouest, all this put us an hour late for the pick up of the car, eventually we got our bright red  new Toyota Aygo and were soon on our way south out of the city of sirens, we regularly heard mostly the police struggling through the thick traffic on their way to another emergency. I was glad to be out of the city, too many people. as expected we had a few problems finding the right roads, but we eventually found our way onto the N7. We stopped at a supermarket to get some food for lunch and buy a simcard for Bev’s phone, the only one available was Orange which would end up causing a few headaches later in the trip. We stopped in the Fontainebleau forest for lunch then went to Fontainebleau palace and went for a walk around the grounds. We settled on the Ibis hotel in town and relaxed in our nice room until dinner, it was twice the price of the Parisienne hotel at €103, but better appointed, though still no fridge. It was 21.00 when we ventured out into the back alleys that were bustling with people, our first choice of restaurant said that there was a 40min wait for a table, so we ate at our second choice which was a Chinese restaurant, and had a good meal, by the time we’d finished it was bed time.

22/4       383km

Up early and stopped in the forests around Fontainebleau finding Blackcap and Nuthatch. We stopped at Pont sur Yonne where there was a market happening, we got some food there and sat by the river. A pair of Common Kingfishers made a brief appearance . We stopped at Varcy lake for lunch where a pair of Grey Herons were nesting in the distance. The rest of the day was spent on winding twisting roads with little traffic and beautiful ancient villages with even more winding twisting extremely narrow streets. We arrived at Roanne at about 17.30 and booked into the Ibis Budget hotel. It often pays to have one’s binoculars dangling around one’s neck because as I got out of the car at the hotel a Northern Hobby Falcon zoomed by and was gone. It was a pokey little room with a broken toilet roll holder, but otherwise functional and clean. We ate at the Courtapaille restaurant next door which was awful, I had the worst piece of fish I’ve ever had, the free salad was just lettuce with a mustard sauce and the tartare sauce for the fish had mustard in it, they were also selling jars of mustard at the counter, so they’ve certainly got a thing about mustard. We spent until late planning our next few days on the free wifi.

23/4      336km

The breakfast that cost €2.50 as part of the package was pretty good buffet, though I was disappointed that the fruit was tinned. We crossed the Loire river in town and again at the gorge, and headed along more twisting winding roads all day, avoiding busy roads and big towns, preferring the quaint villages. At one point we were up in the remnants of the snow country where the daffodils were just coming into flower and a Tree Pipit was singing its heart out. We had lunch at a small lake near Champagnac le View and got Common Sandpiper, Yellowhammer, Redstart and Pied Wagtail. Fuel cost us €1.57pl, so I’m thankful we’ve got a fuel efficient small car. We got into Florac at 17.30 again, and found the Hotel De Pont Neuf, an improvement on last night as far as room size goes, but no lift, and no a/c though neither are necessary. We wandered around the town searching for a good place to eat and settled on pizza at Pizzeria Dolce Vita, a large one each filled us up nicely. The gushing clear stream that runs through town in a series of concrete waterfalls had  Grey Wagtail.

24/4        135km

There was mist on the mountain cliffs above the town when we got up and strolled down town to a pattisserie for breakfast. I checked out the stream for the Grey Wagtail, which was still there and had a visit from a Dipper. We got in the car and headed down the Gorge Du Tarn, a picturesque drive if there ever was one, through little villages tucked into the cliff sides. The birding wasn’t great, getting a brief view of a Crested Tit and some Short-toed Treecreepers, at one spot we saw a young Red Deer munching away on some shrubbery oblivious to us. We went back up the Gorge Du Jonte having lunch out in the open and finding some Griffon Vultures nesting in the cliffs above us and a Short-toed Eagle soaring with them. We cut back across the top but the birding was poor and we only added Kestrel. We went for a short walk just before the plunge down to Florec and disturbed a Roe Deer. back in Florec we had dinner at Les Caraibes restaurant, we both had pasta which was okay but nothing special, then we both had glaces which are large glasses filled with ice-cream of different flavours, with cream and usually an alcoholic topping, very decadent at €7.50ea. Bev had one without alcohol, mine was the Creole which had rum which was a bit overpowering. We organized tomorrow’s stay on the free wifi and then bed.

25/4        336km

Had breakfast at the hotel, there wasn’t a great selection at the buffet for €8ea but we filled up on what there was, and headed east up into the mountains, we stopped a few times along the river getting Long-tailed Tit, on our way back down an unknown call turned out to be a European Robin, and at a river crossing I spotted a Willow Warbler. We went to the Circe Du Navacelle and got our first look at a stone circle along with a field full of wild Jonquils, it was then a dash for our hotel in the Camargue, the Auberge des Plaines, about 5km south of Arles, again no A/C and a short flight of vertical steps in the old building, we arrived at 18.30. We chose to have dinner at the hotel which was a set course meal with 3 courses for €24ea, it wasn’t haut cuisine, but hearty country fare and we were sated. We went to get our laundry done in Arles but all the launderettes were closed.

26/4    233km

The breakfast was a bit disappointing for €7 with only breads and jam with fresh squeezed orange juice, but there was enough of it. I went in to town to get the washing done for €3.90 plus 0.60c for soap powder, whilst Bev used the free wifi to sort out our route for the day. We had trouble navigating today on the smaller roads but eventually found the d17 canal, but the birds were invisible and I added nothing. We then went to the Crau, a semi desert area behind the airport, it was too windy for such an open area but we found some Red-legged Partridge sheltering behind some shrubs and Stone Chat in the shrubs along with some Rollers, Cattle Egret and a White Stork were also in the area. We filled the car up with E10 unleaded for €1.44.2pl and had a look at Etang Des Aulnes adding Red-crested Pochard, we had lunch in the woods, but all the birds were invisible again, even a dragonfly wouldn’t let me get close enough to photograph it. We had a look at the Crau from Vergienne but again it was too windy and I saw nothing. We crossed the Rhone river on the barge for €6 and spent the rest of the afternoon at Salin De Geraud looking at the available salt pans and ponds. The lookout mound was a poor start, but as we neared the Mediterranean we found  Yellow Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher, Shelduck, Yellow-legged Gull, Great Egret, Avocet, Stilt and Gull-billed Tern. We had dinner at the Le Bypass hotel both having a large pizza which turned out to be a bit too large for €11ea. By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost dark, we then used the wifi to sort out tomorrow’s route and book tomorrow’s hotel, it was a late entry in to bed.

27/4    260km

We hit the road early making our way down around the Etang Vacares finding lots of hungry mozzies, Shag, Great Cormorant, Serin, Cetti Warbler and Purple Heron on our way down to Etang Fangassier. There was a huge traffic jam of caravans blocking the track, so we found a platform with a local birder who knew his birds and we added Grey Plover, Greenshank, Crested Lark, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Spectacled Warbler, Oystercatcher, Linnet, Mediterranean Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Dunlin, Kentish Plover and Little Ringed Plover. Many of the waders still had their breeding plumage, which they loose before they get to Australia. A short stop at Mejanes revealed Bee-eater and Tawnt Pipit. We had lunch before we went into Parc Ornithonologique de Pont de Gau. It’s a well constructed wetland with good birdhides, so one is able to get a close views of the birds, the Greater Flamingos are tame, but the small passerines are still generally invisible, disappointingly there were quite a few Coypu in the waterways, though apparently the Foxes are keeping the population under some sort of control by eating the young. We left there at 16.30 and headed for the F1 hotel in Narbonne. We’re getting better at using our Michelin map book to navigate, making fewer mistakes, though we fluked a few poorly marked intersections on our way, arriving at 19.30. it’s the cheapest hotel yet, with a flight of stairs to get up and communal facilities. We walked out the back to the Burger and Cassolette restaurant for dinner, I had Le Bicain burger which was good, the chips were soggy but when I added the supplied balsamic vinegar to them they were okay again though €14 for a burger and chips with a few lettuce leaves seems expensive, but we’re finding here that everything is expensive, the exchange rate is about $1 = €0.60, and many things are costing about the same in euros as they would in Australian dollars.

28/4      160km

The breakfast at the hotel was poor. We drove down to Salin De La Palmes and went for a walk around the dykes, there weren’t many birds and I only added a Ringed Plover to the list. We then drove up into the hills above Caves and in the flowery meadows I added Turtledove, Ortolan Bunting, Curl Bunting and Black-eared Wheatear which has a lot more white on it than my guide book shows less russet. We then had a problem finding a public toilet, the first two were closed, we asked at a bar if we could use their toilet,but they wouldn’t let us, we finally found a toilet in a small shopping centre at least 20km from where we’d first started searching and we had to use our own toilet paper. It had taken so long that it was now closer to dinner than lunch time, so we went to the hotel B&B in Perpignan checked in then drove back into town and went to Creperie Du Theatre near the city square, but they didn’t open until 18.30, it had good reviews so we decided to wait and went window shopping. We got back at 18.30 but had a further 1/2hr wait. The wait was worth it, I had a ham special that was tasty, but with only 1 large crepe it wasn’t enough, I decided on a simple lemon sugar one for dessert, which I thought was under cooked, I think my crepes with lemon and sugar are better, overall though a good restaurant.

29/4    386km

Breakfast started at 7.30 and we were close on the heels of the opening, it’s the best breakfast yet that even included scrambled eggs and bacon. We hit the road soon after and took the d115 up into the hills, unfortunately it started to rain too soon and I got no new birds. By the time we got to the summit at 1500m it was 5°C and raining and cloudy and just not nice. We headed down the mountain and the weather steadily improved, our first stop was at St. Joan de les Abadesses to look at one of those fantastic medieval foot bridges. We had the occasional thunderstorm as we headed towards Sant Carles De La Rapita and the hotel Placa Vella hotel, I saw the usual easy to see birds such as Magpie, House Sparrow and the like as we drove along. When we got to the hotel and found our room on the 3rd floor which has a small balcony from which one can see the sea. We had time to go for a stroll along the beachfront a short distance away and got an Audouin’s Gull. We then wandered around the back streets looking for a feed as the esplanade restaurants were pricey. We settled on the Green restaurant in the small square just up the road from the hotel and had cod and chips with a strawberry thickshake, pretty good. Late in the evening there was a lot of explosions, which thankfully turned out to be large firecrackers and a lot of honking of horns and shouting, we thought it was either a festival of some sort or the local footy team had won, it turned out to be the latter.

30/4      9km

We took the southern route through the Ebro delta, stopping a few times at ponds that had birds in them, then went out along the spit to the end where we met up with a Spanish birder who identified a wader I was struggling with as a Sanderling, it looks very different to the Sanderlings I’m used to, perhaps again because it’s still in partial breeding plumage, which we don’t get in Australia. He then showed me the Sandwich Tern which I had mistaken for as Gull-billed Tern as I’d missed the small yellow tip to the beak. Birding in foreign countries is difficult! I then showed him a picture of a small warbler I’d managed to get and gave him a description of it’s call, but he said that this was too difficult for him to ID, IDing warblers is difficult! We went out to the end of the delta where there is a series of pathways with poorly constructed birdhides that were exposed as you entered them, so revealed no birds, the walkways though went through reedbeds which added a few species. The tall tower overlooking wetlands also revealed more birds using the scope, though any time anyone moved around the tower the scope shuddered too much with the movement of the tower, we got nearly 50sp adding Spotless Starling, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Stint, Redshank, Zitting Cisticola, Sandwich Tern, Sanderling, Marsh Harrier, Whiskered Tern, European Reed Warbler, Purple Swamphen, Grenshank, Collared Pratincole, Northern Wheatear, Woodchat Shrike, and Gadwall to the trip list. We went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while, then went to the local Orange telecom office to sort out Bev’s phone which can only access the network through data roaming, it turns out that that’s the way it’s designed, and doesn’t cost any more to use than it did in France. We ate at Casa Chin another restaurant in the square near the hotel both having the shrimp and leak pie with tartare sauce and a bowl of chips, that was very nice and at under €20 in total much cheaper than eating in France.

1/5    101km

Bev spent most of the morning sorting out payments regarding the selling of our car back in Australia, it’s been a bit of a mess, with two lots of payments going to Russia which we’re not happy about and afraid of being scammed, but Paypal are saying we’re covered in the case any problems. So we set off birding at 10am and went to Fangar lagoon on the north side of the delta. Last night we had bought some pastries so we sat and ate them as a late breakfast then went for a walk along the shore, adding quite a few waders to our list such as Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper and European Golden Plover, we also added Squacco Heron, Sand Martin and Great Reed Warbler to the list. We went through Deltempre and noticed a cheap fuel at €1.16pl so Bev put in a €50 note, but it only took €27 of fuel and because it’s more than €20 change it wouldn’t give us any at all! There was a phone number to ring, but Bev has used up all the phone credits trying to sort out the car sale, and the hotel won’t let us use the phone, so it may end up being an expensive fill up instead of a cheap one. We went out to where the river meets the sea and walked to the birdhides which were better constructed than yesterday’s, so that the birds can’t see one approach. We had a late lunch there. We added nothing new. As we were driving back through Deltempre we saw some Serin in a vegie patch and stopped to watch them along with our first Tree Sparrow for the trip and others already seen. We came back to the hotel for a while then went out after a brief thunderstorm for dinner at Ali Baba kebab, it was typical kebab, filling and cheap but best eaten when drunk, not that I’d know that.

2/5    510km

The day didn’t start well with breakfast not being ready at 7am, it was the only blemish in an otherwise very pleasant stay. It was nearly 8.30 when we finally headed off after getting another €500 out of an ATM, that means we’ve nearly gone through €1000 since we’ve been here, and that doesn’t include most hotels. We headed south along the coast then inland to Morella, from there we wound and twisted our way through spectacular small mountain villages heading basically SW. We emerged from the mountains at Utiel and made a dash along the freeways to Tomilloso to El Hostal De Violeta. The room is the best yet, as far as space and appointments, though with heavy grills on the lower floor there are suggestions this isn’t the best neighborhood. We then tried to find a restaurant, and found them all closed until 20.00, the only one open was Burger King, the contemporary of Hungry Jack’s. We had the King burger meal, which filled us up and was the cheapest meal so far, but it’s still just  fast food. We stopped briefly quite a few times early during the drive but didn’t add any new birds, just such birds as Blackcap and Coal Tit to the Spanish list, we saw Griffon Vultures a few times soaring around high mountain cliffs. Towards the end of the mountain drive I spotted some Golden Eagles cavorting, and lower down we found some European Bee-eaters, the eagles being the only new birds for the trip. We made a few observances during the day, apart from a few small insects I only had one insect splatter on the windscreen, so the inference is that the pesticides are having a catastrophic effect on the insect population, and that has to affect the bird population. Also although Spanish drivers are all speeders they are nearly all courteous, with a result  that there’s very few damaged cars.

3/5    315km

Breakfast wasn’t until 8.30 and it wasn’t worth waiting for being a ration of 2 pieces of toast, fruitjuice and fruit. We then went to the Eroski supermarket, it looks like a Cosco, but after making sure we were allowed to buy food we restocked our lunch basket, then drove north to Campal De Criptana to look at the Spanish version of the windmill made famous by the Man Of La Mancha, this being La Mancha province we found the relics standing forlornly on the hill, one with a broken sail, none with cloth on the sails, they are stark white behemoths with black caps that have nothing to do now that they are obsolete, just curios from the past. I can imagine them very slowly talking to each other, reminiscing about the past in sad tones. There were some Linnets, Crested Larks and a Hoopooe in the meadow, and on the way out we got a Great Spotted Cuckoo. We headed south through the almost birdless farmland to Villaneuava and onto the small roads through more picturesque villages through the Sierra De Alcaraz. We had more problems finding a public toilet that was open, a hotel took pity on Bev and let her use their toilet. We had lunch at the Guadalmena river with quite a few warblers that refused to show themselves as usual. The area along the Embalse De Tranco and the Rio Guadalquiver were no better, though after a brief shower some tits, Greenfinch and Pied Flycatcher became active. As we were leaving the river site a Red Squirrel still in drab winter garb bounded across the road in front of us, scooted off down the slope and was gone, we’d seen a dead one on the road at one point, but this was our first live one, and it was certainly lively. We made the Hotel Andalucia by 19.00, and in struggling English we were greeted by our friendly host. We settled into the largest room yet that is big enough to have a sofa in it, then went down to La Forchetta pizzeria for dinner, I had the lasagne de carne (meat) which was okay, but not a patch on Margie’s lasagne at Jabiru Safari Lodge. After that bed beckoned.

4/5      308km

We headed south through Queros and into the hills behind, at the pass was a tower that had Rock Sparrows around it, I found that I was allowed to climb the ancient tower on spiral stairs, at the top was a bird calling, so I very slowly poked my head up and came face to beak with a Wallcreeper, it soon recongnised that it wasn’t alone and took off, by the time I’d got the rest of me onto the tower top it was nowhere to be seen, also in the area were Cirl Buntings. We continued south through Pozo Alto picking up fuel at €1.30.9pl. Then up into the Sierra Baza, as we got to the top there was a serious change in the weather with some hailstones and sleet at the 2000m pass, this meant it wasn’t worth birding. Once we came out of the cloud and it had stopped raining I stopped for an interesting Wheatear, but couldn’t find it once I’d stopped the car, I also couldn’t turn the Crested Larks into Thekla Larks, but I did flush some Red-legged Partridge. A quick zoom west along the freeway to Dolar where we had a quick bight to eat then up into the Sierra Nevada, it looked very gloomy as we headed up. At the 2000m pass there was a light flurry of snow happening with the temperature at 3°C, there was a short walk out to a lookout back to the Sierra Baza that we did, on the way back the sun came out and the Coal Tits became active. We headed down the mountain and headed west first along the A438 but it was a semi freeway, so we headed back up into the hills to follow the A4132 and were rewarded with a Short-toed Eagle. We arrived at the Hotel Lanjaron in Lanjaron at 18.30, I dozed off to sleep until 20.30 when we went around the corner and down an alley to Cafe bar La Reguerta, the free appetizers were nice, but the main meal of Verdina Fria which was a selection of cold meats and fish with a Russian salad (tomatoes and olives) was a bit disappointing, though I needed no more to eat.

5/5      264km

Up a bit late this morning, and wandered down the main street and found a bakery place selling donuts and other small pastries, so we chose a selection each, went back to the car and headed off down the hill on the N323, stopped by the side of the road to eat our pastries and found a Thekla Lark. Went down to the coastal road and found that most of the coast was developed, but there was a short section of reserve where we found a lookout and got Sardinian Warbler, Red-rumped Swallow and Blue Rock-thrush. We then hopped on the freeway around Malaga to the wetlands at Guadalhorle, and got White-headed Duck, Little Grebe, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Chiffchaff, there were also a lot of Redshanks and some other waders already seen. We had a very late lunch under a Coolibah tree, yes they have eucalyptus trees here. We then drove in to La Linea de la Conception to the hotel La Esteponera, which was hard to find using google, we ended up parking quite a distance away and walking in. The room is a step backwards in quality, but most other hotels here are much more expensive, the room is clean though a bit musty. We drove the car to where we could get our washing done for €4, we put the extra euro in to get washing powder, but I don’t think that bit worked. We found that it was only a 3min walk from the hotel so left the car parked there. By now it was getting late so we headed down to the square for dinner at Cafe Modelo, I had the Iberian Hamburger which wasn’t anything to shout about, and a very good smoothie with fresh berries and fresh squeezed orange juice, all up €10.

6/5    10.9km walk

Up early and went to a pastry place that we saw last night, we talked briefly with a man from Gibraltar, and he shouted us breaky, so we each chose two pastries and he payed for them, unexpectedly nice. We then walked into Gibraltar, which took about 20mins, there was no queue of people or cars. We sat in the main square to eat our pastries, then walked along Main St which was still deserted, and up the hill into the upper park along Engineers Way. We paid our €6 entry fee for walkers and went into the ornithological office, but they said that the strong winds out of the east meant no raptor migration today, so we headed off along the Mediterranean steps then along the ridge, had lunch at the Roof Top cafe which was a meat cheese and pickle in a hard roll that didn’t seem very fresh for €4.70, and ate it as we watched the Yellow-legged Gulls using the updraught from the cliff to show off their prowess, I watched as one took several goes to pick a berry from a bush in flight then deliberately drop it, swoop down to grab it again in mid air, and repeat the manoever several times. There were hundreds of them soaring around having fun. We had to walk back down, I chose the King Charles steps which follow a 15th century wall straight down the mountain, the knees were a bit wobbly by the time we got into the village, most shops were closing, but we found that the glassmakers were still open and bought a butter knife with an attractive glass handle for £18. We bought a bottle of drink each at an Eroski supermarket and asked for the change in Gibraltar coinage, which the attendant obligingly did. We then walked back into Spain, again there were no queues at either the pedestrian or car entry points. The guard on the Spanish side was more interested in fiddling with his phone than watching the people coming into his country. Most of the birds seen today were pedestrian, from the easily seen House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon and Blackbird, through to the Blue Tit and Sardinian Warbler. The only new species was a brief glimpse of Barbary Partridge as is scooted away from us off the Mediterranean steps path. As the ornithological man suggested we saw not one raptor on migration. Back at the hotel I snoozed again until it was time to go to dinner, we wandered around, and settled on the Bodebar where I had the ratatouille which although a bit oily (olives and olive oil here are cheap) was one of the better meals I’ve had this trip and cost €7.50.

7/5     108km

It was a bit of a late getaway again, we headed south through Algacira where found that the phone had run out of data so we were googleless and thus had no idea where things were, we eventually found a patisserie and bought our breakfast and some bread for lunch, we found some hills at El Bujeo at the 95km mark on the A7, we had our pastries then went for a drive up the hill, but there was a sign saying authorized entry only, bikers were using it so I went for a walk along the road and found a pair of Large Psammodromus lizards, I’d had to stand still for several minutes to let the lizards start feeding on the ants that they were feeding on when I disturbed them, and was getting a few photos of them, when a Common Chaffinch almost hopped between my legs, so I quickly turned my attention to that and saw that it was the NW African subspecies with the greenish back. Up in the hills I spotted a Montague’s Harrier along with some patrolling Griffon Vultures, but no massed migration. The wind was the same as yesterday, a strong easterly which seems to inhibit the passage across the straight. We went past Tarifa to some large hills, and drove up to the saddle on the back road and had lunch, no more raptors, but some beautiful flowers in the meadows. The other new bird for the trip was a Tawny Pipit by the road in the lowlands. We went to check in to our hotel the Hostel Almundo, but it was closed from 15.00 to 17.30, there was no mention of this on the website when we booked last night. So to use up some time we went down to the beach and went for a walk across to the Island of Doves, which was more like the Island of the Yellow-legged Gull, this will be our most southern point for the trip, so we took our been there done that shot at the southern most point of mainland Europe, the island fort was off limits which was a bit disappointing. Enough time wasted we headed back to the hotel and booked in. It’s a very nice room with a spacious bathroom, there’s even a little fridge, but I turned it off because we’ve got nothing to put in it. At 21.00 we strolled down town, but went the wrong way initially, then found that the old part of town inside the old walls was the place to be. We had a paella at the Central cafe, which was very good, they didn’t hold back on the seafood, we left there sated for €12ea and walked back to the hotel.

8/5      55km

We had a good sleep in this morning and left the hotel at 9.30, and found a shop selling pastries and bread, then drove the short distance to Cazalla observatory, there was very little happening. Over night the wind had changed to a westerly so I was hopeful of some migratory activity across the straight, but it was too windy and at the same time a mist was coming in off the sea. At about 10.45a guy turned up in a national park vehicle, so I went over and said ola, he said ola back and then ignored me, looked through his binoculars in the car at something and drove off …um… I thought, that wasn’t very helpful. It was another 1/2hr before another person rolled up and got out his car and went into the building. This isn’t very good I thought again. Soon though he came out with a pair of binoculars, and we soon got chatting, not long after he arrived an Egyptian Vulture turned up,  he identified the Nightingale song for me, and confirmed Cirl Bunting, Melodious Warbler and yesterday’s Montague’s Harrier. We stood around in the stiff breeze trying to find any hint of migrating raptors with no luck, we did see some Common Swifts mating in mid air, they really do do everything in the air! He suggested that with the westerly breeze that the birds would be making landfall at Punta del Carnero, so at 12.30 we headed off there for lunch, not long after we got there Robert turned up with his tour group and some Spanish birdos also arrived, it was not long after they got there that a flight of 27 White Storks overflew us, then some Black Kites, Short-toed Eagles, a few Honey Buzzards, a Booted Eagle, an Osprey and 2 Black Storks. A Northern Gannet also made an appearance. The coup de grace though were seeing several flights of Griffon Vultures coming across the water like graceful lumbering bombers making landfall near us and not quite going overhead, Robert and his clients had to go and were replaced by Keith and John, but it soon went quiet in the late afternoon. all in all it was a good afternoon. So it was a good call by my friend Diego at the observatory, it just goes to show that you can’t beat local knowledge. We went back to the hotel room and did a bit of planning, then headed back into the old town for dinner after spotting the Lesser Kestrels around the old fort. we went to La Oca Da Sergio where I had a seafood pizza, which had canned mussels and no anchovies, so was a bit disappointing.

9/5  205km

We were on the road at 8.30. It was a dull sea-misty day. Our first stop was a sandstone cliff below the town of Vejar where we got the reintroduced Northern Bald Ibis, there were a number of pairs nesting on small ledges in the cliff. We then went up into Vejar to a patisserie for our now traditional  two pastries each, and drove down the hill a bit to a small lookout to eat them. We then drove on the freeway through Cadiz making several poor choices of turn offs but eventually finding the right formula to get out to Costa Ballena, but there was nothing new along the developed shore front and gardens, though I did get the best look yet at Bev’s favourite bird, the Common Hoopooe. From there we went through Chiplona getting lost in the back streets, eventually emerging and getting to Sanlucar De Barrameda, through there to Bonanza and out onto the salt marshes north of the village. The track was in poor condition, so I stopped by another parked car and went for a walk. We added Temmink’s Stint, Little Stint, Whimbrel, Calandra Lark, Night Heron and Lesser Short-toed Lark, so a productive afternoon, there were lots of other waders about such as Grey Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Red Knot etc. It was a late lunch back at the car, then we drove back in to Sanlucar De Barrameda to check into the hotel Los Helichos. We then went for a walk around town, down to the estuary and back into town where we went in to the Iglesia De Santo Dominico, a 15th century catholic church with all the gaudy glitz and iconoclism expected, we bought some food for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch, took it back to the hotel and it was soon time to venture back out to find dinner. No5 Cabildo was our choice, I had the croquettes de morcilla iberica with chips with a simple salad, very nice. We were finished by 22.00 which is early, some nights we haven’t even ordered by then. Most restaurants don’t open until 21.00, and we like to stroll around and look to see what’s on offer at as many restaurants as we can before we choose one that we think both of us can find something to eat, so it’s usually a very late night by the time we get back to the hotel. Most of the restaurants are in the squares, as was this one, which was only a few hundred metres from the hotel. The only down side to this hotel is that although it has a garage, when we arrived it was full, so had to go park our car in a side street, we found one about 500m away.

10/5    285km

We made it it out of the very nice hotel at 8.30 and promptly made some wrong turns in town and had to resort to google maps to get us out to Laguna de la Tarelo, where we had our breakfast of pastries that we’d bought the night before to save time. At first I thought the site was going to be a dud as the lake looked almost deserted apart from the island that was full of nesting Night Herons, and Little Egrets gurgling at each other, but soon a pair of Little Bitterns flew out from the reeds, then a Common Waxbill (which is an introduced bird) was seen collecting nesting material, a short walk produced a singing Willow Warbler and Ceti Warbler. We drove slowly north through the pine forest, but I couldn’t identify anything new, then up to Salinas de Monte Algaida where we got Short-toed Lark, but nothing new on the ponds. By now it was getting close to midday so we headed off towards Sevilla. We got our first traffic jam on the ring road as a small accident caused major delays on the big bridge, there were a few small delays getting onto the freeway to Hueva but once we were out of Sevilla it was easy going. Crossing into Portugal we made sure that we didn’t have to pay a toll to get to the first turn off and we got to Vila Real at about 16.00 and checked into the Guest house Arenilha, we’re on the top floor, but the best view is from the roof. We drove back to the wetlands by the freeway and had 26sp by dinner time. We drove back in and got a park right outside the hotel. The streets nearby are blocked off to traffic, so we did our usual stroll and ended up at the cafe Buca Doci where I had the worst cheeseburger ever, thought the chips were okay, but for €3.60 I guess I shouldn’t have expected much. Just around the corner is Coracau da Cidade where I had a huge fresh fruit crepe with the best strawberry ice cream, it was magnificent.

11/5     272km

We checked out at 7.30 local time, but it was 8.30 Spanish time. We went back to the wetland but only added a few more waders to the Portuguese list, not the total list, we had our two pastries each that we’d bought from the same place we’d had desert last night, they weren’t as good as their crepe. It was then back into Spain and up the A499 through Villablanca.In the hills the clouds were low, the wind turbines looming out of the clouds like huge silent sentinels, their enormous blades stationary. Our target was a dirt road that ran over the Sierra Pelada to Aroche, thankfully as we approached the range the clouds lifted, but the only raptors were Griffon Vultures, we stopped twice, on the second stop we both got glimpses of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, time was getting on so we headed down the mountain and had lunch in a small flower strewn meadow by a river, another pair of Griffon Vultures came to check us out doing a couple of wheels above us, then well above them we saw a lone Black Vulture. We then went through Fregenan and Llerena to stop at hostel restaurante Campo Abierto, just outside the village of Valencia de las Torres, it’s a big old place with high ceilings and old fittings, but quite serviceable. Even though it was a short day I was struggling a bit with fatigue and had an afternoon nap when we got into our room. We had dinner downstairs, both having the garlic beef with chips and shared a large salad plate, very good.

12/5    319km

Off early with another gloomy start with a few light spots of drizzle. We headed in to Castuela, and went round and round the town looking for a pastaleria. At one point I caused a traffic jam as I headed down a one way street the wrong way, at an intersection there were all of a sudden cars coming from all directions at me as I tried to get out of the street, up until then we hadn’t seen a single car on the streets. Eventually we found a pastilaria with the help of google, how did we find things without it? We took a little back road down to an arm of the Embalse de la Serena and had breakfast with the Jacdaws by the bridge, the drizzle turned into a shower with a cold wind as I tried to photograph them, so we headed off to Acedera where an ancient church had part of it still functioning and the crumbling remains of the rest given over as an apartment block for White, Storks, Kestrels, Pigeons and Sparrows. We had a look up the side road at Vegas Altas but found nothing new. I spotted a Little Owl by the side of the road, but as soon as I stopped it took off. We skirted around Trujillo and went out onto the Belen Plains, stopping for lunch at Aldeacentenera, where there were several birds singing away such as a Nightingale, but none were seen. We then headed east through Santa Marta de Magasca driving very slowly, checking out the fields, we came across some birders who had found a Little Bustard, I could hear it calling, but it was keeping low in the long grass, the only bird I could find was a Great Grey Shrike. We spent nearly an hour waiting patiently for it poke it’s head up above the grass, but it never did. We headed further east and came across some British birders who had found a Spanish Imperial Eagle, but it too was hidden in a tree this time, so we chatted whilst waiting for it to emerge, which it eventually did, I got good views, but my camera wasn’t up to snapping a shot. In a nearby nesting box some Spanish Sparrows were nesting, and as we left some Rollers turned up. It was getting late now so we headed in to Caceres to find a Pastaleria, we tried several that were all closed using google again, the fourth attempt proved fruitful but there was no parking nearby, I eventually found a spot I could stop at 500m away but I was illegally parked so Bev went off and I stayed with the car. We headed down to Torreorgaz 15km SE of the town to find our hotel, the Parador de los Lanos. Being a Saturday night with a festival on in town this was our best value hotel, but although it advertised its restaurant it was closed because of the festival, so we headed back into town, filling up the tank on the way in as well as picking up some food from a supermarket and found the B-nomio restaurant, again it was a long walk from the nearest parking spot I could find, with the back end of the tiny car just on a pedestrian crossing, it was supposed to be open at 20.00, but wasn’t. We could see staff moving around inside so we waited. Eventually the door was opened and we got our dinner, I had Dim Sum, there were 4 delicious curried steamed dim sum with a soy sauce and a coconut sauce, best food yet, just not a lot of it, most restaurants give a free bowl of olives and bread with the meal, this one charged €1.75ea for the bread with an olive paste, but that with the meal was enough.

13/5   199km

We were off early at 8.00 with a sunny 8°C but still too windy. we went to Rio Almonte for breakfast, where I received my first blast of a horn from a driver for the trip as I stopped on a blind curve on a previously deserted road to try and go down the track to the river. I had my usual palmeras de cacao. Around the bridge were some Alpine Swifts and Crag Martins. We headed up to the Embalse de Talavan to the bird hide there, but there was nothing new, we went for a walk around the side of the dam and saw some pretty butterflies and checked out what looked like an ancient bridge. We then trawled the plains around Hinojal all the way back to Santa Marta de Magasca looking for any sign of bustards, but got none, so at 16.00 we checked in to the Peru hotel on the northern side of Trujillo, and relaxed, I nodded off again. We drove back into town for dinner at the ancient square, finding the Nuria reataurant, I had the home made croquettes which I give the thumbs down to, Bev had the fried breadcrumbs, which I thought were as bad as they sound but which Bev said were okay.

14/5    329km

Another cold sunny start, we headed in to Trujillo to get the laundry done, but found it was a commercial laundry not an automated one, and anyway it was closed, we then headed out on the ex208, and got 36km before we realized we were on the ex208 south of Trujillo not north, so back we went, scooted around the town on the freeway and headed north. We had breakfast at the Rio Almonte again, different spot, that had  a profusion on flowers in the river, with invisible frogs croaking away at my feet. We went up to the old watchtower at Monfrague, finding the first Red Kite along the way. The view from the top is fantastic, lots of Chaffinches calling, and some Linnets. The commonly seen now Griffon Vultures were soaring around our heads. Back down where the river cuts through the range there were more Griffon Vultures nesting but I couldn’t find any Spanish Imperial Eagles. Further up the river on the cc911 we stopped and got an Egyptian Vulture nesting with some help from a local birder. Further upstream again we found another birder with his scope pointing up into the trees about where I’d been advised there was a Spanish Imperial Eagle nesting, I’d never have spotted it. The adults were coming and going from the nest, at one stage bringing in a rabbit for the chick, wonderful to see. There was also a Golden Oriole nesting. We had lunch at the Rio Tajo near the freeway, which we then hopped on going to Taravela to get our washing done, thanks again to google. It was then the long drive up into the mountains up the N502. We stopped at the pass and got looks at the local form of the Spanish Ibex that were quite approachable, and I also had a Rock Bunting almost bouncing around my feet. From there it wasn’t far to the Hotel Rural Las Cuatro Calles in the small mountain village of San Martin Del Pimollar. Juan is a biologist and local guide, and pointed me off in the direction of the stream where I got Whitethroat, Black Redstart, Grey Wagtail as new for Spain, plus others. Dinner is home cooked and excellent, the home made yoghurt with home made blackberry jam in particular was brilliant. After dinner Juan gave us a map of the area and told us where to go to see some of the local specialties for tomorrow, so it was a fortuitous choice to stay here, and I would recommend anyone interested in wildlife to support his venture.

 

15/5   172km

The included breakfast was just toast and juice, and we were soon on our way up to the Platforma Gredos in brilliant sunshine and 2°C. It cost €3 to get to the carpark at the top, from there we looked up to the rocks above to see a pair of Choughs hopping about, from there it was about 1km walk to a bowl with lots of low shrubs, it was a slow walk around revealing Ortolan Bunting, Dunnock, Water Pipit, Rock Thrush, Skylark and Bluethroat. It was nearly midday when we headed down the mountain to Navarredina de Gredos to a conifer woodland for lunch, we spent nearly 2hrs wandering around, but hardly saw a bird, we added Nuthatch and Short-toed Treecreeper, but even the Chaffinches and Coal Tits were stationary whilst they chortled away. We headed off for Segovia arriving at the Hotel Corregidor at 16.00. It’s a nice room, one of the biggest yet, but the wifi is hopeless. We emerged again at 17.00 for a stroll around the historic town with a stunning aqueduct, huge cathedral that cost €3 to enter, and a mass of other early churches and buildings. We had dinner at the Cafe Vogue, I had the ham, bacon and goats cheese toasted sandwich with chips which was okay, then a slow sroll back to the hotel finding a pannery along the way. I was dismayed by two things today, up on the mountain we saw a couple heading up the mountain with two dogs off the leash, they looked to me like hunting dogs, they should not be allowed in such places. there are no places in Spain that are put aside purely for the wildlife, the hunting season which is surely an anathema seems to have no limits, and it seems that even out of the hunting season the wildlife here gets no respite from our rampaging. Even worse was finding a large fire scar, the fire was apparently deliberately lit to kill the wolves that live in the hills here. Once again it is testimony to the arrogance and selfishness of our greedy species. We are slowly and irrevocably making this planet a poorer, meaner place to be. Every load of concrete, every old growth tree that is chopped down, every local species extinction is contributing to this poverty.

16/5    292km

We did 25km extricating ourselves from the town and headed up the N110 to the pine forests above Navafria, there were lots of Chaffinch and Coal Tits as usual, but the only interesting bird was a Short-toed Treecreeper. Further up the highway we took the road up through Rio Lobos canyon, there was a pair of Red-legged Partridge by the river, and up in the cliffs were the usual Griffon Vultures with a pair of Choughs and some Alpine Swifts, we had lunch at the lookout. We went up into the pine forests around Vilvestre Del Pinar and got a good look at a Crested Tit and Robin, and on the road to Soria got a Long-tailed Tit in a park. We got to the Hostel Soria at 16.00 and I had my usual siesta in one of the smallest rooms yet. Later we went for a walk finding Bar Runa’s, I had the tropical hamburger which was good.

17/5    297km

Breakfast was a freeby, so for €37 it’s one of the best deals, if you don’t mind small rooms. We hit the road early and drove through the nearly birdless farmland not stopping until south of Navellaco where a track ran between the farmland and a pine forest. At 10am the birds were still active, with all the common species such as Serin, Great Tit and Chaffinch, in the gully though was a pair of Sub-alpine Warblers, which would prove to be the only new bird for the day. We had lunch in the saddle above Sos del ray Catolico where a pair of Long-tailed Tits were just about the only species. We were way ahead of where I expected to be so we did a loop, first looking at the remains of a Roman villa opposite Foz de Lumbier, then stopping at the lookout at  for  a while, watching all the Griffon Vultures come and go with a lone Egyptian Vulture. We then went down the dramatic Rio Eska and back along the highway to Javier and the hotel Xavier where we relaxed for a while. It’s part of the Jesuit complex here and is an old building with the creakiest floorboards I’ve ever walked on. After a rest we went for a walk looking in the church and then walked down to the pueblo. At 20.30 we went for dinner downstairs and had the entree and desert each for €15ea, we both had the spinach cheese and shrimp pastry, I had the cheesecake, both were excellent.

18/5    191km

We were off by 8.30 and headed up the Anso valley, lower down we got a Golden Eagle soaring along the cliff face high above us, we drove on all the way to the end of the road where we split up, I went up into the sub-alpine meadows, Bev went on a walking trail. The meadows are being quite badly damaged by having stock on them, the horses and cattle are too heavy for the soil that’s been covered by snow all season.  I wonder if anybody cares, anybody? There weren’t many birds here but I added Yellowhammer and Black Redstart to my Spanish list. I saw a very pale looking fox making its way towards me, it hadn’t seen me so I moved slowly and managed to get a photo of it before it spotted me and scampered away. We then headed over to the Hecho valley having lunch over the saddle by a water trough in a gully, as we arrived there was a woodpecker drumming, but I couldn’t find the bird, as we were finishing lunch there was a light sprinkle of rain, but it didn’t activate the birds. Again we headed up to the end of the valley, parked, and walked on up further. We found quite a few Marmosets by, and near their burrows. I went a few kilometres up the valley which afforded spectacular views back down the valley and of all the cascading waterfalls from the melting snow above, there were no other people around, it was a wonderful time. On my way back down I got my new bird for the day, a pair of Alpine Choughs came skimming down the valley close enough for me to see their yellow bills that differentiate them from the Red-billed Chough already seen. By now it was late so we headed down to Jaca to the Hostel Paris another old hotel built in 1936, the floorboards don’t creak as much, and we overlook a small town square from our balcony, back to a small room though with shared shower and toilet. We had a look in the ancient cathedral just across the way from us where a bored sounding priest was giving mass to a bored sounding small congregation in the gaudy chapel, at the main alter some restless kids look like they were receiving their  confirmation, and when it was finished went running through the building, a priest in a confessional who hadn’t moved since we arrived looked up, I think he smiled then went back to praying by himself. We wandered around town and eventually ate at Jacques, I had the goats cheese hamburger, not as good as the other night with no chips, but cheaper.

19/5   165km

We were out of the hotel at 8.00 and headed up to the Sierra de Pena, we stopped a few times on the way up but found nothing new. At a patch of dense woodland I stood still for a while and had a Blue Tit and a Nuthatch get within 3m of me briefly. At the monastery there was a pool with some frogs in, again no new birds, there was another Nuthatch, some Robins and a flight of migrating Honey Buzzards were using the ridge to gain some height. On the way back down the hill we stopped at a good vista point to have our pastries and had a long distance view of a pair of Lammegeiers, unfortunately they only got further away from us and eventually were lost to view. We picked up some fuel at Ayerbe at €1.31.9pl, then back to Riglos where there were lots of Griffon Vultures and a few Egyptian Vultures with a lone Short-toed Eagle around the spectacular Los Mallos cliffs, from there we saw the Mirador de los Buteos and saw that it was accessible by car via Sarsamarculeo, it’s not well signposted and past the village the road is rough dirt but the effort is well worth it, from the same village there is a walking trail to Sol de Pina, apparently also a good viewing spot. On the road to the lookout we got a Tawny Pipit and some Black Redstarts, but the stars are the Griffon Vultures that are constantly soaring around the lookout, at one stage a formation of Red-billed Choughs came streaming through, but kept on going. Eventually it was time to head back down and on to Huesca and the hotel Montearagon where there is a large well appointed room with double glazed windows to reduce the traffic noise, but that doaesn’t stop the noise from the next room’s TV or shower coming through the walls. We went back into town to the Lidl supermarket to buy lunch supplies, then a pastilaria to buy tomorrow’s breakfast and finally after our obligatory wander around the small streets of the town we found Sushi Maki and had the menu de dai for €8.50 which was for me a large glass of lemon Fanta, a homemade large springroll and sweet and sour pork, both were okay and we both left with full bellies.

20/5     165km

We were off close to 8.00 on another cool partly cloudy morning and it was a short transit to the Sierra De Guara road, I only stopped once up the short valley finding the usuals plus a Grey Wagtail and some Blackcaps, then we drove on to the end of the road and walked along side the Etang de Vadeiloto to a small saddle about 2km in to the walk. There were the usual Griffon Vultures lining the ridge tops waiting for the thermals, it was quite late when with loud wing beats they took off one by one and followed each other to a thermal a few kilometres away, there they amassed and swirled around in a multistory eddy until they’d gained enough height and they streamed off to hunt for food. We headed back to the car and took the back roads getting to a saddle on the road to Santa Eulalia de la Pena for lunch. In the mountains behind us a storm was raging away, all banging and crashing and flashes of lightning. On the way down to the N330 we saw a huge column of vultures and a mass of corvids above a farm, it was an illegal feeding station, but a savior for the vultures now that the farmers aren’t allowed to leave their dead animals for the vultures any more. We headed up the N330 into the storm that was still happening, but much of the violence seemed to have abated. By the time we got to the A1604 and headed east the rain had gone and we motored up the valley stopping along the Rio Guarga and at a saddle. For the first time in the trip I added no new birds to either my overall list or to a country list. We headed up to Escalona and the hotel Cinca to another very pleasant room with an outlook on to the mountains, we walked into the village and got some stuff for breaky, had a look at the fast flowing Rio Cinca near the hotel then had lunch at the hotel, I had the hamburger chips and salad which wasn’t a hamburger just 2 patties and not 100% beef but with fresh squeezed orange juice it was enough.

21/5   276km

It was an 8.00 getaway from one of the nicer hotel stays and not a long drive up to Valle de Pineta. Along the valley floor we stopped at some nice woodland and got a woodpecker, it was on the ground so I thought it might be the White-backed Woodpecker, but I just couldn’t get a good enough look at it before it scooted off. We drove on up to the head of the valley having our pastries in the carpark before walking along the easy track around the head of the valley to where a bridge crosses the roaring waterfall of the Cinca river. At a smaller cascade prior we spotted a Dipper preening itself on a rock and bobbing up and down, it was looking around as if searching for food in the tumbling water so we watched expectantly for several minutes, but the rotter dived under a rock ledge out of view rather than into the water. We took the shorter steeper route down through excellent forest with birds calling all over the place, it was towards the bottom where I managed to turn a call I knew was different into a Firecrest, there were all the usuals that I’ve now learnt the calls of such as Robin and Chaffinch, as well as Chiffchaff, Dunnock and Nuthatch. We left there at midday, I stopped briefly at the woodland we’d stopped at on the way up and managed to get a better look at the woodpecker which turned out to be the more common Great Spotted Woodpecker. We then headed around to the Valle de Banasque again driving up to the dead end to have lunch, there wasn’t much activity here there being not much in the way of woodland or meadow. There was a lone Marmoset. We stopped briefly at a small lake on the way out and got Red-backed Shrike, then headed into France and Bagneres de Luchon to the Coco Loft apartment, which we were duped in to paying €89 for. We use Booking.com for most of our bookings as we get a 10% discount for using them frequently. The prices are always the full amount payable, the prices for this place are per person, but it doesn’t state that anywhere until you pay, and all of a sudden the price has doubled! When we got there at 18.30 we had trouble getting in, as the access gate was stuck and looked like is was locked, we eventually figured out that it was the access and forced the gate open, found the key and got in. We had the bonus of a washing machine so used that then went out, and spent another 30min trying to figure out how to lock the door, eventually figuring out that you have to turn the handle up to engage some lugs then use the key to lock it. There was a welcome pamphlet that I’m sure explained all things such as this but it’s in French only. We walked down to the main street and just around the corner is a pizza place where we shared an American pizza which had a cream base rather than tomato base, very nice.

 

22/5    196km

Our first stop after leaving the hotel was the Col de Payesourde, there was no meadow just farmland and the forest is in poor condition and I only detected Blackcap and Chaffinch, the next was Col D’Aspin, the meadow was feeding a heard of cattle, but the forest was in better condition, I heard either Goldcrest or Firecrest, I haven’t learnt the difference between the two with a treecreeper that I couldn’t properly ID and a Robin that sat on top of a tree to sing. The next stop was at Tourmalle where there were some Water Pipits, that wouldn’t sit still for me. Just on the other side of town the road was closed, there had been no warning, and we now had a 100km drive to get to our hotel through Lourdes. With plenty of time to spare since I’d planned on walking up Pic du Midi which was now too difficult we went up to Lac de Glorettes which is a dam. I chose the walk across the dam wall and up into the meadow, and it was along there that we spotted a pair of Lammegeiers traversing the high mountain peaks, if we’d gone the other way they’d have gone over our heads, as it was they were an unsatisfactory two or so kilometres away, but it was still great to see them again. There were also some Yellowhammers, but the meadows were again being used by sheep, so not much else. We drove back down and up to Bareges to the hotel Castets D’Aires, to a smallish but nice room, later we emerged to look for something to eat, only to find everything closed, the only two hotel restaurants were only serving their own guests, how rude. So we walked back to our hotel and when we told them that nothing was open they offered to cook us an omelette each, which we gratefully accepted as it saved us a drive back down to the nearest town. There are many advantages in staying at small privately run hotels, you get personal service, ie. they are generally much more willing to engage with you so you get an overall better experience. Also they are much more likely to go out of their way to help you as in our problem tonight, lastly if the food is cooked by one of the proprietors you get much better food that is really home cooked, as with our meal tonight, it started with garbon soup, a hearty thick vegetable soup followed by a potato omelette, with some local cheeses as a finisher. We then chatted with Nathalie and Philippe, mainly about birds afterwards.

23/5    89km

We left the hotel at 8.30 after Philippe showed us a Chamois grazing on the hillside opposite through his telescope. We went as far up the Vallee d’ Ossouie as we could then walked past several old avalanches. The last one was still blocking the road, and Bev turned back, I kept going into the National Park, again I was alone in the majesty of the mountains, with only the Marmosets, butterflies, lizards and of course the birds for company. It was a beautiful sunny day with cool light breezes, perfect weather to be in the mountains and I reveled in it. No new birds, but that didn’t matter, I did see a Golden Eagle, some Rock Buntings and others. Eventually it was time to head back down the valley, then we went back up towards the Col de Tentes, again it was blocked by snow, so we walked around to the east side of the mountain away from the ski fields and sat down on a rock and enjoyed the dramatic vista over to Pic de Mourgal and others. I got Mistle Thrush and a brief view of a Lammegeier about 1km away, they’re getting closer! There was also a huge flock of well over 100 Alpine Choughs soaring around the valleys. At about 15.00 the clouds came in and it was time to head down the mountain all the way to Lourdes to the tacky part of town not far from the famous grotto. Not being Catholics we scoffed at all the iconism and plastic trinkets for sale. We stayed at the hotel D’Etienne above the trinket shops, the room was good, though there’s no free parking in the area until after 18.00. We ate at the Croix de Lorraine restaurant that was making a killing by being open early (most restaurants don’t open until 20.00, and sometimes even 21.00), I had the Hake in Basque sauce with salad and chips. The batter was the soggiest I’ve ever had, and the Basque sauce was not Basque sauce but a cheap imitation, but at €10.50 you get what you pay for… wait a minute €10.50 ain’t exactly a cheap meal!

24/5    239km

Before we headed off we walked down to the grotto, where they were having a service, as we were leaving there was a huge queue of people in wheelchairs waiting for their turn to visit the grotto, inside the main church they were also having a mass. As we left town it started to rain, but soon cleared to be another nice sunny day. Our first choice of routes over the Col D’Aubisque was closed due to the snow, so we had to back track through Lourdes again, we missed the turn off and went down the D940 nearly to Pau, and had to do another backtrack to get on to the D35, which lead to the D294, then the D241 and the D341 a right turn took us down hill to the D132 and a right turn onto the D113, are you following me? All these were marvelous small roads to drive, with virtually no traffic. At the bottom of the hill a left turn took us on to the D26, a right turn in Larrau got us onto the d19 and a left turn at the bottom of this hill took us to the target for the day. Unfortunately all the roads that we traveled on today were no good for birding, the meadows were all being munched on by stock and the forests all being being logged. They seem not to do clear felling here but do a lot of selective logging, but that doesn’t mean that the forest is healthy. What happens in a forest that is being logged is that there are very few dead trees and very little rotting vegetation on the ground. The forest may look green and lush to us, but it lacks food. Dead vegetation is an important resource for nature, whether it be a dead limb on a tree or loose leaf litter on the ground, removing it changes the ecosystem to the detriment of the animals that use it from the insects to birds to mammals. Having said all that just before we got to Col Bagargui we got a European Pine Marten. We went into the Iraty Forest way too late and it was virtually dead, with only 5 common species of birds detected on a one hour walk. On our way back down from the mountains we saw a lone Griffon Vulture on an arete along with a Meadow Pipit. Our B&B signposted as chambers d’hotel from St.Jean Pied de Port is a working farm called Zubiatia. The room is spacious and the bathroom modern. We drove back in to town to a restaurant on the east side of Rue D’Eglise, I had the third best pizza I’ve ever had, a Napolitana with just the right amount of anchovies, garlic, and onions on a crispy base, yummo! As we were eating it started to rain, and continued until we got back to our room.

25/5     309km

This is a small private B&B and one of the nice things about this place is that it has a free breakfast around a big table rather that a lot of small ones, I don’t know why but the large table seems to encourage conversation, only one of the guests spoke English so I chatted with him, whilst all the others chatted away in French. Our first stop for the day was in the Foret D’Urt where a Great Spotted Woodpecker was again spotted. On Etang Hardy et Blanc there were lots of shooters huts out on the water and very few birds. We had lunch at Etang de Souston where there was a Wren nesting not far from us, it was a bit agitated by us being there but continued to feed its young, offering good but fleeting views of it. At Etang de Moysan we went for a walk through the forest and had a Black Woodpecker arrive at a tree nearby briefly before heading off again, we came across a feeding group with such birds as Firecrest and Crested Tit. A partially built hide over a good looking patch of swamp could prove interesting for crakes etc, though I couldn’t see any footprints in the mud.  Our last stop was at the Courant D’Hutchet where a walk went down to a disappointing platform over the mud, there wasn’t much bird activity in the good looking forest. All through this region there is a patchwork of good forest bad forest, all if not most has some sort of logging activity in it, which as stated yesterday usually precludes some species, the ecosensitive ones, which are nearly always the ones under threat of extinction. We stopped at the Hotel Regal in St. Paul en Born, the room is small and the bathroom recalls an airplane toilet, the main difference being that it didn’t go schloop! when you flushed it. Also rather frustratingly although the blurb on the hotel stated that there was wifi we were informed on arrival that there was none, even though they must have a computer connection to have taken our booking, not very nice. So we went back to Mimizan to McDonald’s to use their wifi to book tomorrow night’s hotel. We’ve had some sort of rain every day for a few days now, not very much, a quick blast of thunder a brief fall and it’s gone, but the days are dull and cloudy, not good for photography with most photos looking flat. There wasn’t much in the way of restaurants in St. Paul or Mimizan. Bev had a pizza from the take away place and we went back to McDonald’s where I had a Big Mac meal which cost €8.60

26/5     309km

We were off before 8.00 from one of the worst places we’ve stayed at, but still not awful. We had breaky at Etang Biscarosse et Parentis with not much bird activity. Next stop was Etang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet where I identified a Eurasian Treecreeper and a Spotted Flycatcher. There was also a drumming from a woodpecker, but Icouldn’t find it. We stopped at the northern edge of the Dune du Pilat, but couldn’t find much happening. Next stop was Etang de Cousseau, but the walk in was too far through poor logged forest, and I gave up and returned to the car after about a kilometre. The reserve has been protected since 1976 so with more time to do the 7km walk it could be worthwhile. A small track north of Lupian leads in to the forest beside the creek, this is where we had lunch and a walk down the track revealed another feeding group with Long-tailed Tit, Crested Tit, and Nuthatch, and now that I’ve learnt the call as of yesterday another Wren was briefly spotted, the call is popping up at most good habitat, so I’m sure I’ve heard it many times and put it down as one more unknown call… not any more! At Etang de Barrayre we went for a walk around some small lakes with fishermen all trying to land a huge carp, the advertisement stated up to 40lbs. Some of the photos posted on the board were impressive, I was more interested in a moth and the cutest little froglet, hundreds of them scampering away from under our feet. The rain for the day caught up with us as we headed off to Point Le Grave for the ferry to Royan that cost €30.30, a charge of €3.30 per person plus the car. On the crossing I got a Great Black-backed Gull, as well as both sub-species of the Lesser Black-backed Gull. There was a juvenile smaller gull which I think was a Mediterranean  Gull, not sure about that one though. We got to the F1 hotel at 17.00, and emerged later to go to the Royal Wok restaurant, which is an all you can eat buffet for €17.90ea, very nice food.

27/5   333km

We headed across the €8per car toll bridge to the Ile de Re to the end of the island where the nature reserve is. We had breaky in the carpark then went for a walk around the wetlands. It was a bit disappointing to find no hides, but it was a good morning’s birding nevertheless, getting such species as Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Northern Shoveler, Melodious Warbler, Whitethroat and the jewel in the crown Bluethroat. We bought some stuff from the LPO shop then went to put some petrol in the car. We found that there are no manned petrol stations on the island, and Bev’s cards aren’t accepted at some stations, so we did a tour of all the stations and very nearly ran out of fuel doing so before we found one that accepted the card that doesn’t refund the exchange costs, typical. We stopped off at the 12th century Cistercian abbey ruin for lunch, then did the drive to St Nazaire to arrive at the F1 hotel at 18.00, we went next door to the Buffalo Grill restaurant, that is doing a good job competing with McDonald’s. The meal is more expensive being €13.50 for the cheeseburger and drink, but it’s much better food, better served with little extras like a free salad appetizer and popcorn whilst waiting for the meal, overall value is thus better.

28/5    172km

The day dawned with quite a thick fog, I don’t know why because yesterday was the sunniest warmest day we’ve had for a while with no rain. Anyway it cleared before we got to our first spot at the Canal de Roze, where we got our first Song Thrush. A short distance north is Ile de Fedon where a lot of the houses have thatched roofs which are the first we’ve seen. There was no access to the marshes apart from a short track that led to a levee, we had breakfast there watching Long-tailed Tits crossing the canal. A local spotted me with my binoculars and told us to go back to the Canal de Roze and head the other way along the canal to a bird hide overlooking a small lake at Reserve Pierre Constant, this we did and I got my first Northern Lapwing and Reed Bunting, along with some Greylag Geese, Marsh Harrier, Linnet and Zitting Cisticola. We headed to Pen Bron on a small peninsula and did the loop walk around the off limits hotel compound and got a Rock Pipit, another new bird for me. Just off shore some Common Shelduck chicks were bringing new meaning to the term surf chick. They were quite strung out at one stage and a passing Lesser Black-backed Gull did an opportunistic swoop at them just after I’d taken a photo of them to count the chicks, but the parents were on to it, and as the gull swooped a warning call went out and all the chicks dove under water, a pair of Shelduck loafing on the beach took off and chased the gull a long way, at first we thought that some of the 14 chicks had been taken as we couldn’t find them all, but after taking another photo and counting them again we found that they were all still there. We had lunch at St Columbier at some picnic tables, across the water I could see a birdhide, so we headed over there and on the short walk down to it we spotted a Green Woodpecker in the gardens, the wetland that the hide overlooked was unfruitful, but may house waders etc. when the tide is high. From there we headed to Ile de Tascon and walked out over the causeway finding a small group of Ringed Plovers and Dunlins. The tide was coming in a lot quicker than I thought and we got wet boots walking back over the causeway. It was now quite late and some storms were looming so we headed for today’s F1 hotel that’s three in a row (they are cheap). As we arrived the heavens opened and we sat in the car as rain pelted the car, in a lull we sprinted for the hotel, checked in then went and did our washing, then went to a huge Super U supermarket and bought some food for dinner, breakfast and some bread for lunch, then back to the room to spread our washing out to dry.

29/5    181km

It had rained quite a lot overnight, but as the day dawned the rain cleared to a dull cloudy day. We drove the short distance to the forest between Elven and La Couers and walked the track to Bois de Helfau for a few kilometres. As usual the forest birds were mostly invisible, I caught a glimpse of a Goldcrest, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and had reasonable views of a Wren feeding its young in the undergrowth. At one stage I heard a woodpecker drum nearby me  so I sat down at a strategic point to see if would come into view, instead I found some mice scurrying around my feet, popping in and out of their burrows, but could I get a photo of them? No, if I pointed my camera over there they were over here, if I pointed my camera here they were over there and if I moved a muscle when they were out in the open they scampered off only to return minutes later. They were more russet than a House Mouse, but I’m not sure what they were in the middle of the forest. We were back at the car at midday and headed off, stopping for lunch at Lac de Tremelin, then on to Mont St Michel arriving there at 15.15, we caught the free shuttle bus out to the island and walked the ramparts to the abbey but found it cost €10ea to go in, disgusted we walked out and walked the crowded streets of what has become a tourist trap, it was a disappointing 2hrs on the historic island. We arrived 3mins after the 2hr cut off time for parking and had to pay the €11.50 full day fee rather than the €6 2hr fee, which capped off our dissatisfying time at the island. We stopped at the reconstruction of a windmill at Moulin de Moidrey but they wanted €4ea to see it in operation milling flour, everyone is trying to suck your purse dry. We left, and drove to our hotel in Pontorson, the Hotel XIV, a small room above a pub with a shared toilet and a ridiculously small shower in the room. We ate at Le Grillon Creperie where I had the forest crepe which had garlic, mushrooms, parsley and bacon, at €7.50 it wasn’t very much, but it was reasonably tasty and I wasn’t hungry, we shared a salad which was mostly lettuce with some onion, they don’t do good salads in France.

30/5    341km

We were on the road by 8.30 on another dull cloudy cool morning and headed east. We stopped at Foret des Andaines for breaky, again it was being logged selectively, and I added no new birds. Just before Acheres we spotted our first Hare, we’ve seen a few Rabbits every now and then. Just after Acheres we found some Pheasants by the road. Further east we stopped at Foret de Douredan for lunch, and again got nothing new. We got to the Hotel Wink near Orly airport at about 16.00. The room is okay but the bathroom needs upgrading. We’d used the smaller yellow roads as much as possible, and the traffic was pretty good until we got into the outskirts of Paris, with the villages close together and traffic light after traffic light. We ventured out again at 17.00 to the local Elephantbleu car wash to get as much Spanish road dust off the inside of the car as we could with their low suction vacuum cleaner,  we supplemented it with a paper towel and my handkerchief all to avoid the extra cleaning costs. We’d filled the car up at a Hyper U service station at €1.499pL along the way so a €5 top up was all the car needed and we ate at Burger King, mainly because I don’t have much of an appetite. We are on a main road in the city of sirens, with wailing  vehicles zooming by about every 15min or so.

31/5   7.5km France 63miles UK

It was a short drive to the airport, but following the signs to the hire car drop off site was as difficult as usual in France, but as usual we made it in the end. During the trip someone had brushed against the rear bumper knocking two minute chips of paint off, but it looks like they will charge us for it, we’ll see. it was a €12.10 trip each on the Metro to Gare du Nord station arriving at 10.00. On the way up in the elevator a young chap jumped into the lift at the last moment, as the lift door opened he dropped his mobile phone on the ground and it broke into pieces, this was the distraction, he bent down to pick up the pieces with his right hand, in doing so blocking my exit, I was worried that he was going to wait for the doors to close to assault me, but instead I felt his left hand reach back to try and pick my pocket, but I had my pocket hard up against my suitcase, I shoved him and growled at him and he walked off, and I survived the attempt unscathed. Always be aware of attempted distractions, and I always keep my hands in my pockets when possible. We had a long wait until 13.00 to check in then another long wait for the 13.15 train which left on time and hurtled through to London reaching 298kph. We arrived on time. Bev went to get some Stirling from an ATM then we got our Honda Jazz, another red car. We then went back into the terminal and got a Phillips map book of Britain for £24.99, an EE sim card for the phone so we are back on Google. The Oronge one in France had stopped accepting payments for the last week. It was a slow trip out of London onto the motorway and out to Halstead and the Bull Inn, an old English pub over 500 years old, very nice room and good bathroom. We walked the short distance to the American Fried Chicken take away for a huge meal. With a map book I can now piece together all the sites that I’ve given to go birding at for the next month.

1/6   116miles

There was a free cooked breakfast on offer, but I was happy to have a bowl of cereal. We hit the road at 8.30 and went to Minsmere. We joined the RSPB for £50 and got free field guide on British birds. We then went for a walk around the excellent wetlands with great bird hides filled with helpful British birdos and got 55sp in the reserve during the day, new ones for me were Sedge Warbler, Barnacle Goose and Great Bittern, we also heard Water Rail, at the end of the day we tagged along with a birdo to the nearby heathlands to get the Dartford Warbler and got a large raft of several hundred Common Scoters just off the beach. It was then a dash for the hotel using Google to travel the small lanes to get to McTaggart’s in Ashill, another nice room. We ate at the hotel as there weren’t any other places to eat in walking distance, I had the Italian Burger which had sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and olives, with chips and small salad for £5.90 +VAT, pretty good value for a nice meal.

2/6    93miles

It was bucketing down as we left Ashill and headed north we stopped at Black Apollo Coffee House in Holt and had their Almond croissant each which unusually didn’t have custard but was very good. Then on  to Cley Next the Sea and the marshes run by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, there is a £4.50 charge to enter the bird hides where I added Common Teal and a fantastic look at some juvenile Bearded Reedlings in the back of a spindly bush, the adults were giving only the expected brief look. I got 34sp in the 1½hrs spent here there were also Tufted Duck, Stonechat, Shoveler and Ceti Warbler. We skipped over to Titchwell reserve run by the RSPB, there is a £6 parking fee here. The reserve’s size in in between Minsmere and Cley marshes. We spent 4½hrs here getting 44sp. The new bird here was being watched by a local birder, but when he asked me if I was interested in seeing a Short-eared Owl in the late afternoon I raised my eyebrows a bit, sure enough there it was, flitting about, about a mile away, hunting, wonderful! Other interesting birds were Pochard and Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Ruddy Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Tern, Little Egret and Bearded Reedling. There is also good woodland here. Again it was a quick sprint south to Swaffham for dinner at the Mother Hubbard’s fish and chip shop, that has a sit down restaurant upstairs. I had the scampi and chips for £5.90 +VAT. It was okay, but not what I remember scampi being as a child. Not far south our hotel is a 300 year old pub in Hilborough, the Swan Inn. A large room with good bathroom, but at £60 more than we usually pay, cheap hotels do no abound here.

3/6    141miles

It was a foggy start to the day after yesterday’s rain, and a 7.30 start for the short drive to Weeting Heath a Norfolk Wildlife Trust site with a £3.75 entry fee. Last night we’d bought a couple of donuts from the fish and chip shop that hand made them, so we had one each then went down to the west hide. Another birder had arrived just before us, and as we entered the hide he informed us that we’d just missed seeing the Stone Curlew flying around, there was nothing happening out in the field that we could see with the fog still around. We waited patiently for the fog to lift revealing 4 birds on the ridge line plus some Eastern Curlews. We went for a walk to the other hide then along the path to the feeding hide with all sorts of yummy things in the feeders for the birds which were coming and going. We got 21sp there which included Nuthatch, Yellowhammer, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Common Tit and Marsh Tit. A short drive west is Lakenheath an RSPB site that is a good mixture of habitats that stretches 1½miles along the river. We had our second donut then headed off along the trails getting 37sp which included Great Bittern, Bearded Reedling, Hobby Falcon, Kingfisher and Long-tailed Tit. It was now after 14.00, so we got into the A14 and the M1 to Loughborough to stay with Andrea arriving at 16.30, and spent a very pleasant evening with her. At one stage I went up to the loft where my Uncle Ian’s work is stored. There were some of his paint brushes there too, ad looking around the deserted silent room brought a tear to my eye. There will be no more works of art produced here. He’s gone.

4/6    152miles

It was 10.30 when we said our goodbyes to Andrea and headed east through Melton Mowbray and up to Market Nasby for lunch using the smaller yellow roads. We had some sausage rolls and a vanilla slice from Coopland’s bakery, over the Humber bridge which 34 years ago I couldn’t cross on my bike, and we stopped in Beverley to look at the Beverley Minster. From there it wasn’t far to our hotel at Bridlington, the Marina Guest House. A nice room with a smallish bathroom. We had plenty of time to wander around the marina and seaside town before having dinner at the SL hotel. We had the £7.95 two meals for one deal I had the chicken pie and chips, which for the price was pretty good, we both left satisfied.

5/6    138miles

It wasn’t a long drive to Bempton Cliffs a line of 400m high cliffs owned by the RSPB, a £5 entry fee applies, so we’ve now paid for our subscription. The cliffs are spectacular, but the teeming wheeling mass of birds is phenomenal, then you see that the every single slightest ledge has a bird either nesting or perching on it, and then you notice that the sea has salt and pepper strewn all over the surface, more birds, wow what a sight! The most numerous bird is the Guillemot, thousands upon thousands of them, then there are thousands of Northern Gannets and Kittywakes, then hundreds and hundreds of Razorbills, then hundreds of Northern Fulmars, then about a hundred or so Atlantic Puffins,plus gulls and Jackdaws and pidgeons, all up 24sp. The day got sunnier as we walked, but the wind was ferocious and icy, particularly early on. We walked the northern leg then back to the visitor centre via the nature trail, and then the southern leg, it took until 13.00. By then the place was teeming with humans, particularly the visitor centre. We had a pork pie and roll and headed north. We stopped at  a forested spot in the Yorkshire Dales, but it was very quiet, we added Song Thrush. We then through Newcastle to Blyth and the Tavern Hotel, the pub entry looks awfully shabby, but the room itself is okay. The facilities are shared. We walked back down town where most places were closed but we found Quality Pizza where I had a huge hamburger and Bev had the biggest Parma I’ve ever seen, all for £10.50.

6/6   75miles

It wasn’t far north to Newbiggin by Sea to look at the sea wall, there were 9 Eider Ducks there and a Curlew with some Oystercatchers. It was then up to Seahouses, we parked the car in a side street for free, and went to see what cruises we could get on. Apparently it was too rough to land on Staple Island which was my preference but they were landing on Inner Farne. Bev ummed and ahhed about going out, and by the time we’d got to the booths I could only get on the 13.00 trip with the Serenity tours, they advised Bev who gets seasick not to go out. We went for a stroll along the beach then had some lunch which was leftover salad from last night and some muesli bars from this morning’s breakfast. The boat was late leaving, there wasn’t much to see on the way out, a few Fulmars etc. zooming by the boat. I sat at the back which wasn’t a good place to be as I wasn’t in a good spot for the Grey Seals, the starboard side is the best side. All was redeemed  however on the island, as close views of all the birds except the Fulmar and Gannet are possible. The Arctic Terns will attack your head, you can get eyeball to eyeball with the Shag in breeding plumage, Kittywakes and a few Common Terns on nests, Razorbills and Guillemots not much more than arms length away. The Puffins are the most circumspect, the closest I could get was about 20m, but still close enough to fill the camera frame. The hour on the island was soon over and it was time to return, again not much to see. Another short drive up to Beal to the hostel at Eat Sleep Lindisfarne. Being a hostel it’s spartan, very spartan, no sheets or blankets! £60! Very poor value for a private bunk room. Unless you’re willing to stay in a dorm and share facilities, hostels are not worth it. We drove down to Holy Island to walk around the village for an hour or so, unfortunately they are doing some major works on the old castle on the mound, so there was no photo opportunity there. We ate at the Lindisfarne Hotel next door to the hostel. I had fish and chips which at £12.50 is not cheap, but it was a good meal. We discovered that they are part of a group called inncollectiongroup.com, and they had bed and breakfast for £42.50, much better value, but they didn’t come up on the search last night.

7/6   203miles

We were off by 7.00 and headed north, picking up some fuel and breaky, A Scotch pie, at Pencaitland using the smaller roads rather than the A1. We skirted Edinburgh on the ring road and headed up the M90 over the Firth of Forth. We stopped at Lochere in the Fife Regional park to stretch the legs, but there was little on the lake and commoners in the woodlands, on the way out we flushed a Bullfinch from the ground, but couldn’t find it again, though I heard 2 calling. Not far north is Loch Leven an RSPB site, where we spent several hours at the hides and a short walk in the woodland. 38sp was the count with Snipe, and Common Gull as new. We had an organic bacon BLT for lunch at the cafe then headed up the A9 to Kingussie. We were booked into the Osprey hotel, but when we arrived we found that the lady of the house was sick and they’d organised for us to stay at the Columba cottage B&B for the same price, one of the reasons we booked the Osprey was that it had free breakfast, which this place doesn’t have, but the owners are friendly here and the room is very nice in their home. We went around the back of the town to the free RSPB site at Insh marshes and got a better look at a Bullfinch, nesting Curlew and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. There was a commotion in the reeds and an agitated Mallard came flapping out, then back in and back out. Bev spotted what looked like a Weasel that was probably hunting its chicks, it then upset some Curlew and flushed what may have been a Snipe. There were also some Roe Deer, all up 23sp of bird. We had dinner at Joe’s fish and chip shop where I had black pudding and chips. Pretty good.

8/6    65miles

We were off before 7.00, picked up breaky at Tesco’s in Aviemore and headed up to Loch Morloch, where on the misty water we got Goldeneye, after much discussion, we also got our first bites from some midges. Up the mountain to the base of the funicular railway which is closed for maintenance, most people were walking up to Mt Cairngorm so we headed off south. Bev gave up early and I went on all the way to Ben MacDhui the highest mountain in the area spurred on by reports of Dotterel up there. I couldn’t find any, nor any Ptarmigan which is also up there. Did get Red Grouse, Snow Bunting and Ring Ousel, Willow Warbler, Dunnock, Wheatear and Raven. The Snow Bunting seemed lonely, calling vociferously with no response it was quite confiding. The Ring Ousel was in the garden area at the chair lift area, we were put on to it by John a local birder. It was now dinner time so we headed back down stopping at Loch Morloch to confirm the Goldeneye which we did in better light, we also found Goosander and Common Sandpiper, then on to Tescos and had their 3 for £3 deal, a roll a snack bar and a drink, we took them up to the RSPB Osprey centre at Loch Garton, but it was too late with the only bird sighted a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Back to the same hotel as last night.

9/6   177miles

We said goodbye to our hosts and went to Tesco’s in Aviemore to buy our breakfast and lunch, then went back to Loch Garton and got 9sp one being a Caparcaillie that Bev found and I missed out on. We went to Grantown on Spey and walked the river bank between the road bridge and the old 1700s bridge getting Goosander, Dipper, Mistle Thrush and yet another Common Sandpiper, all of a sudden they’ve become common. Over to RSPB Loch Ruthven as the clouds started to gather. We got the Horned (Slavonian) Grebe (thanks Keith) as well as Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Common Cuckoo, Red Kite, Willow Warbler, Curlew and others. We then took the narrow road favoured by cyclists and car clubs down to the bottom of Loch Ness then back up the west side favoured by speedsters and buses, that were the only monsters to report. We went over to RSPB Corrimony, but as we arrived so did the rain, we sat in the car for 1½hrs but the rain didn’t stop, I had a nice zizz. At 17.30 we went headed off to Inverness to the Tesco Extra for our £3 meal each and went out to Alturie Point to eat it, then to our Airbnb house out in the country near Baddock. Another nice room in a new house, but the owners aren’t very chatty.

10/6    196miles

We first headed further east to Nairn to look for the RSPB site there but couldn’t find it, the entrance road must be further east, so we turned around, went back to the Tescos in Inverness to buy breaky and lunch, then went across the Firth to have breaky at the lookout. Then north we went over the Cromarty Firth and stopped at Nigg Bay RSPB. The site isn’t well tended and the grass has grown high on the embankment, so the only way I could see the birds in the bay was to put the scope up to full height and stand on the seats. It proved a worthwhile effort though as we soon had a Whooper Swan. In the bushes and by the small wetland we got Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Lesser Redpoll, 23sp all up. There were some birds out in the bay that were probably Red-breasted Merganzers, but they were too far out to properly ID. We took the A897 stopping at a lookout just past Ruathar lake for lunch where there were Bull Finch and Snipe were seen along the way. We stopped at RSPB Forsinard Flows to look at the peat bog. The portion that the public have access to is only small and we found only a few species. By the carpark we got Siskin and more Redpoll with some Sand Martins. We found Thorso’s Tesco for our £3 meal each then went to Gills to book ourselves on tomorrow morning’s ferry then went to John O’Groats to eat our dinner and go for a walk out to the Ness of Duncansby, where we got most of the sea birds minus the Puffin and some Grey Seals bobbing about in the bay. Just to the west of Gills is Moleside Airbnb that overlooks the bay and has Bog Cotton in the garden and Gorse fencing with regular visitors such as Merlin, great place. We had a very pleasant evening chatting with our hosts.

11/6   64miles

The breakfast spread was vast and we gratefully tucked in. Just after 9.00 we did the 6min drive down to the ferry and we were soon off on the £70 trip to St Margaret’s Hope, the 1hr trip netted  some Black Guillemots, Great Skua, Arctic Skua and to everyone’s delight a pod of Orca came quite close to us. There was also a whale that was probably a Minke. Once landed we headed to Kirkwall via a short stop at the Italian Chapel that now has a £3 entry fee because some selfish tourist stole an artifact, before that it was free. We found the Northlink Ferries office in the town near the visitor centre and booked our return journey to the Shetlands £258.34. We started our tour of Orkney with a visit to RSPB Hobbister and found Twite, Redpoll, more Great Skua and Black Guillemot and 12 other species. A short hop down the road is Waukmill bay where despite it being an RSPB site the dog walkers were letting their dogs loose and of course the first thing they do is chase the birds in the shallow bay, stupid people. We had a look at the Standing Stones of Steness, there were a noisy group of tourists in the hide and a pair of them actually walked in front of the hide, more stupid people, needless to say there wasn’t much to be seen from the hide. A short drive across the causeway is the ring of Brodgar with another RSPB site next door, there is little access to either, the stone ring because there have been too many people walking around the stones damaging the grass, so one is restricted to walking around outside the ring, and the RSPB site because it’s a breeding site, for Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Snipe etc. We did see a Snipe displaying which was interesting and there were some Stonechats, but not much else. Up to RSPB Cottascarth where we saw some Hen Harriers more Stonechats and 7 other species. It was then back to Kirkwall to check in to our Airbnb place, another very pleasant room with a very pleasant host. He directed us to Happy Haddock for some fish and chips. The fish was pretty good, but the chips I think were cooked at lunch time and were rock hard, both were pre-cooked and had been sitting too long so were too cold, not a good dinner. We drove a little bit out of Kirkwall and sat by the bay to eat and had some Fulmars out for an evening’s glide come cruising right over my head on the beach a few times, graceful understated birds, love them.

12/6   69miles

We had some cereal and toast for breaky, our host left for work early. The first stop was RSPB Birsay Moors where there were 14 ordinary species, one of the few RSPB sites that I haven’t seen a new species. We then spent a long time at the RSPB Loon hide, we got 27sp with a left over Pink-footed Goose showing up late. There were several species with young, Little Grebe, Shoveler, Coot and Mallard. We had a fly by of an Arctic Skua, nowhere near as common as the Great Skua.  Another highlight were a pair of Black-tailed Godwits in full breeding plumage that were nesting, along with Curlews and Lapwings. It was a short drive to Marwick Heads and a walk up to the cliffs finding 21sp, but nothing new. We got as far as the Kitchener memorial, a tower, the other 700 or so men who lost their lives when the ship sank in 1916 only got their name inscribed on a wall, including an E. Fothergill. Back to Kirkwall Tesco for our £3 special each supplemented with a coleslaw/potato salad where the coleslaw had slopped over to the potato salad side so they were selling it for 17p, bargain! We then went to the ferry terminal where I had a zizz until we were allowed on the ferry at 23.45.

13/6    129miles

I didn’t sleep all that well on a bench at the back of the ship, but well enough. It was light and I was awake at 3.30 when we passed the Fair Isle. A bit more sleep until 6.30 when I was woken to say I had to get out of the breakfast eating area, so I went to the awful recliners that don’t go back far enough to watch us come in to Larwick at 7.30. We got some food at the Co-op supermarket and headed up to the Yell ferry for the 8.45 ferry, then the 10.00 ferry to Unst, and a drive to the northern most part of Britain that you can drive to at RAF Skaw, for our been there done that photo. On the way I found a Red-throated Diver in a bay and some Red-breasted Merganzers. We had a look at the walk  to Hermaness but it was going to take too long so we headed back to the ferry for lunch, and found that we’d made a mistake. I had wanted to go to the top first to give me more time at the RSPB site on Fetlar, but we found that there were no ferries going there until too late, we should have gone there first. So we headed back to Lerwick, along the way the weather became bleak with cold squally winds and light rain, 10°C, summer. We checked in to the grey stone B&B Carradale Guest House in town overlooking the southern bay with big bay windows and high ceilings, great room, though the big bay windows are redundant with zero sun. A short cold walk to Tesco’s for dinner. Accomodation in Britain is not cheap, up here it’s down right expensive at £70 a night, so we are cutting back on our food expenses to mitigate our overall costs. We filled up with fuel here at £1.35pL, which although more expensive than the mainland only 3 or 4p more per litre.

14/6    114miles

The wind raged all night, but with double glazing we heard nothing, though the poor Sycamore tree across the way attested to the strength of the wind. We had big a breakfast including eggs bacon and tomato, then headed north up to Fethaland and walked out to the old fishing village, now just ruins. It was an invigorating walk in the stiff wind with a few showers. We found some Red-throated Divers on some of the tarns with Ringed Plovers and a displaying Snipe with buzzing tail, that has to be heard to be believed. There were a lot of Arctic Terns and a few Grey Seals in the bay. On the way back we found a Golden Plover. We went over to Dore Holm and got a Merlin along the way, it zipped past us at a fair clip, by the time I’d stopped, put the hand brake on, undid my seatbelt and got out of the car it was 500m away, I brought my binoculars up to get a look at it and they were fogged up from sitting on my wet lap, rats! We went to the lighthouse nearby for lunch as the wind changed from an easterly to a westerly and started to strengthen. Our last stop was Muckle Roe where we took the beach track, but when we got to the top of the hill above the beach the wind was ripping off the sea so strong that it was difficult to walk, Bev gave up, but I forged on finding a way around the back of the hills I spied a cairn, I snuck up on it from the lee where it was not as windy. As I crested the hill I was blasted by the full force of a force 10 gale, wow! I’ve had several wow spots along the way, but this one took the cake and I gave my call that was snatched away by the wind, so no one heard it except for God Himself. This is a place where one can breath deeply. The only active birds up here were a pair of Great Skuas, they were surfing the winds, they would zoom up the leeward side of the hill behind the cairn and as they crested the hill the wind would strike them and they’d careen back off the top then dive back down and zoom up the leeward side again, they were having as much fun as I was . Heading back we stopped at Frankie’s Fish and Chips in Brae for dinner. The Haddock was caught by a certified sustainable local fishing vessel the Venturous LK 75, so although a simple fish and chips meal cost £10, I was happier to pay the extra to know that it’s sustainable.

15/6   95miles

The wind moderated overnight and after another hearty breakfast we said goodbye to another excellent host and headed down to Samburgh Head at the bottom of the main island. Around the cliffs at the RSPB site there were all the usual seabirds with some Rock Pipits and Twites, 19sp all up. Over to Loch of Spiggie that despite the wind moderating was still too choppy to attract birdlife, there were 23sp here including what looked like a Red-throated Diver as it flew overhead. The problem here is accessibility, there are no hides so one has to bird from the road which is less than ideal with the road only being one car wide, at one point I went down a road to try and get a bit closer to the water and a farmer’s wife came out and told me that the public land stopped at the other side of the shed which was blocking the view of the water, so I had to leave. We went over to West Burra island that is connected via bridges and had lunch at Mann beach .  We then went back to Lerwick and wandered around the town until it was ferry time. The ferry back to Kirkwell left a bit early. There was a bit of swell as we got past the main island but not enough to make Bev sick. We arrived in Kirkwell at 23.30 and headed over to Stromness where we laid back the seats in the little car and slept as best we could.

16/6    223miles

Predictably it wasn’t a good night’s sleep, but we figured that it wasn’t worth the price of paying for a hotel for the few hours between ferries, we didn’t know that one can book a cabin in the ferry to Scrabster whilst it sits in dock overnight. We lined up at 5.30, boarded at 6.00 and back to the mainland we went. back on the mainland we headed west along the coast. The best road was the B896 that goes through Drumbeg. It has to be one of the best roads I’ve ever driven. Its one car width winds and twists through dramatic landscape, you never know what’s going to be around the next bend, a view of the coast, a loch, a moor, a waterfall, or maybe a car coming at you too fast. Our Airbnb place is in Wester Baellblair near Beuly, another very nice room.

17/6  202miles

It was a 70 mile drive back to Skye from the room, but there was no affordable  accommodation in the area when when we tried booking last week. We arrived on the island at 10.30 and went to the hide at Kylersha, there were some Grey Seals and Common Seals loafing on the shore, not much in the way of birdlife, just the commoners. We then tried to pick a few spots around the coast that were likely spots for Otters without luck. The day started out with sunshine but by the time we got to the island the clouds had rolled in and we had showers and light rain for the rest of the day. We picked up some food at the Co-op in Kyle of Lochalsh and ate it just down the road at Lochalsh  woodland but the steady light rain had de-activated the birds. Our room for the night was at Fisherbeck B&B in Ratagan, a small but clean room. Our host said that Otters are seen around the bay here so I went for a walk but got wet for nothing but a pair of Common Sandpipers.

18/6    122miles

We had another good Scottish breakfast courtesy of our hosts then we were on our way. We went down to Glen Nevis and walked up the valley to the saddle. There was no view of Ben Nevis but there were plenty of other tall peaks around us. The weather was windy with the odd ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds, moving across the valley like an alien device scanning for me. I managed to miss all of them. The showers that inevitably moved in I wasn’t able to evade, but again they were quite light. Down to Oban where we were lucky in that someone had cancelled their booking on the first ferry tomorrow at 7.30, so we got their spot, we also booked the last fery at 19.15 back to the mainland. We bought some food at Tesco’s, filled up with fuel for £1.25pL picked up the key for the flat and went to the room, I’d had reservations about the place as it’s a room in an old 1960’s council flat, I was thinking DINGY, but my fears were allayed, the room is adequate without being spacey and is nice and clean.

19/6    122miles

We got to the ferry to Mull in good time and did the 50min £42.20 journey without any ado. Nearly all of the roads on Mull are one car width, so it’s very slow getting around, having to stop often in the passing places to let other s come by or speeding traffic past. We started our search of the island at Lochbuie and found Rock Pipit and Eider ducks, then over to Iona, stopping often at vantage points to scan the waters. There is a £1 per hour parking fee near the ferry which cost £3.30pp for the short trip. Bev went into the Abbey which is another £7.50, I went for a walk out to the north point and heard the clockwork calls of a Corn Crake in an ungrazed meadow, but couldn’t spot it. As we were leaving the carpark we spotted the sign indicating free parking 100yds off the main road…grrrr! We took the scenic road to Salen which passed some cliffs with Peregrine Falcon. As we arrived at Salen at about 17.00 the rain caught up with us and put a kybosh on the day. We spent the last hour or so by the coast just north of Salen in the steadily building rain, then headed back to the ferry, so I missed the two iconic species of Mull, still, one can’t expect to see everything. We did some more shopping at Tesco’s and bought two of their heat up prepared meals for £5 I got the garlic and chili chicken which was excellent, just hot enough to make my nose run, but I could still taste the garlic, well done Tesco!

20/6    157miles

We had a late start today as Bev wanted to look in a few shops that weren’t open until 9.00, so it was 10.00 when we headed west around the top of Loch Lomond stopping by a beck in the Trossachs where we spotted a bird disappearing into the trees. We couldn’t find it but did find a Dipper pair feeding a young somewhere out of sight, then on to Inversnaid RSPB for lunch, we walked the upland trail finding only 8sp in the late afternoon but one of them was a female Red Grouse that I flushed from the side of the track. There were a few weak attempts by the sun to break through during the day but the clouds held sway all the way. We stopped in Bridge of Weir near Glasgow at Strathgryffe Airbnb, it’s an entire granny flat for a reasonable price with a bonus washing machine as our washing needs doing again. We bought food at the Co-op supermarket in town trying their two for £4 prepared meal deal, it wasn’t as good as Tesco’s but still okay.

21/6   153miles

The sun was shining brightly as we left our spacious accommodation. It was a short drive to Lochwinnoch RSPB for 22sp none were new and most of little note. We saw our first Magpie in ages yesterday and here we got our first Swift in ages. There were some Grey Squirrels around the feeding station. There is a £3 entry fee for non RSPB members. The long drive south through Moniaive ensued where we took a wrong turn thanks to poor or should I say non-existent signage in the town and we ended up on the B729 which was longer but pleasant drive over the moors. The target was Ken Dee Marshes RSPB for 19sp with Nuthatch and Treecreeper in the excellent woodland, but I seem to have run out of luck in getting the key species, in this case the Willow Tit, plenty of Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits though. A short drive down to the coast to Mersehead RSPB that was a waste of time, as neither hide had much to offer and I only got 18sp though we saw a Merlin start its dive on a suspected prey that was over a hedge, dammit! From there it was another short drive to The Park hotel and pub in Dumfries, a pleasant room above the pub. Just down the road is Noble Hill cafe fish and chip shop where we ate our fill of fish and chips for £15.10. Amazingly the sun was still shining as we finished our day though the top temp was 17°C with a cold wind for most of the day, still our nicest day for weeks.

22/6   155miles

We had a late start today. In the evening Bev finds our next place to stay and as usual she did so last night, but there was a message on her phone in the morning to say that there had been a mistake made by booking.com and the place we had booked was full end of story. So Bev had to spend another hour or so finding another place which being a weekend was a bit fraught, but she found one and we were soon on our way via Tesco to pick up some milk and yoghurt for breaky and also some stuff for lunch. We went out to Locherbie and walked around Sherwood Crescent where the wings of the plane wiped out several houses killing the people inside. It’s a reminder that although it’s good to plan for tomorrow one should always live for today, because you just never know when your time is up. We went to the town hall where a stain glass window set depicts the flags of all nations that lost people in the catastrophe. We then went down the motorway around Carlisle to RSPB Campfield Marsh. The feeders had Tree Sparrows plus all the usuals, the tide was too far out to see any waders and the wetland was half dry with zero birds on it so 18sp all up. A short distance back up the road is Glasson Moss where there were supposed to be Willow Tits, but once again I couldn’t find any, we walked the boardwalk and had lunch at the end of the small track by the tower, 10sp all up. We went to see The Fothergills, since we were close to our namesake, and found that it was just a row of houses on the northern side of Flimby. From there we did a loop through Keswick, Derwent Water, Honister Pass, and Buttermere in the Lake District, beautiful country. Then it was time to head to our Airbnb host in Whitehaven. We were let in and then left to our own devices with a recommendation of the pub over the road, the Globe Inn which we tried. I had the hamburger which at £6.50 for a big meal represented good value for a good burger.

23/6     87miles

Just for a change we went to the local Morrison’s Supermarket to buy breakfast and lunch, then did the short drive to St Bee’s Head and parked the car up a side street to avoid the parking fee and walked over the cliff top walk to the RSPB site which is near the lighthouse and found that one can drive to the lighthouse and do a much shorter walk to the cliffs. Our walk was 2½miles each way. The cliffs hold lots of Guillemots, with a few Razorbills and Kittywakes, but only 3 Fulmars with no Puffins or Gannets, 27sp all up, on the way back we found a Least Weasel. Next stop was lunch at Hodsparrow RSPB where we walked around to the hide to watch the large tern colony with lots of Sandwich Terns and a few Arctic Terns and Little Terns, 32sp all up. There are quite a few unattached males that would fly in to the breeding area with a fish and brandish it about, trying to attract a female, I saw twice though that a juvenile would approach the bird begging for the fish and the attendant adult would then have to chase the would be wooer away, the disappointment in the little chick’s demeanor was palpable. Another little drama I saw was an adult turned up at its nest with a fish for the tiny chick and offer the fish to the chick, the other adult on the nest was shoving the bird away, it was clearly one of the parents though and kept on trying to give the chick the fish, but the poor chick couldn’t take the fish, I suspect the fish was too big for it, in the end the fish was given to the nesting adult who swallowed it, they then swapped nesting duties, hopefully this adult knows what size fish the chick can take. Down to Leighton Moss where we didn’t do the place justice and spent only an hour here. We apparently missed seeing an Otter by 30min, I’m doomed not to see this species I think. There are also Bitterns here which we didn’t see either, we did see a Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harriers, on the feeders there was a Bullfinch, 24sp all up. A short drive south is Carnforth and the cheapest Airbnb yet at £20 for the small but pleasant bedroom, we walked down to the Booth’s supermarket and got their 4 for £4 deal, a sandwich 2 snacks and an infused water, Tesco’s is better.

24/6    196miles

We were off to a sunny 7.40 start for our drive down to Talacre beach at the mouth of the Dee river. The hide is accessed through the car parks with height restrictors with a walk out along the embankment, we got 26sp with a huge flock of Oystercatchers and some Curlews on the water side, and a pair of Whitethroats on the landward side. We had lunch at Conwy RSPB where the most interesting wildlife was some Pyramid Orchids, 27sp all up. Our final stop was at South Stack RSPB on Holy Island off Anglesey Island. The cliffs are spectacular with calm clear water today. This meant not much activity though, so the thousands of Guillemots were mostly clinging to the cliff edges as they do, there were also over a thousand gulls, mostly Herring, but not much else, just a few Razorbills. It was very pleasant though sitting on the cliff top watching the gulls cruising the cliffs and the occasional Guillemot gliding down to the bay for a bathe. The only excitement was a small group of Red-billed Choughs patrolling the cliff top. We went back into Holyhead to get some food but all the supermarkets had closed at 16.00 being a Sunday, thankfully the Tesco petrol station was open and they also have the £3 meal deal, we also topped up the fuel tank at £1.259ppl, they are usually the cheapest in the area by quite a long way. We then found that the place we were staying at, the South Stack Coastal Retreats was back at the RSPB site, so back we went. The rooms are getting smaller and smaller, but this one has a little patio out the back where we ate and planned our next move.

 

25/6      159miles

The weather has definitely turned summer, with another bright sunny day, we had our complimentary breakfast in the courtyard in the sun then hit the road by 8.00. It wasn’t far to Valley Wetlands near the RAF base, the track doesn’t really afford good views of the wetlands, also there is no restrictions on dogs here. As we arrived so did some dog walkers who let their dogs run wild, through the reeds where there are supposed to be Bitterns, all over the place. Let me explain 2 of the problems with dogs in nature reserves, the first is that as we move through the environment we create a circle around us that is unavailable for wildlife to use, if there are constant people that circle becomes a corridor, when you add a dog that area widens, because wildlife sees dogs as more of a threat than us, but if you let the dog run wild that area is expanded immensely (the next time you’re at the beach with dogs running wild, check the number of birds on it versus one with no dogs), secondly as  the dog moves through the environment whether on a lead or not it leaves scents which wild dogs pick up on, increasing the chances of having a wild dog in that environment thus adding to the risk of wild dog attacks in the area, and a wild dog can be a devastating predator. So had a frustrating time and got 21sp. We went up the valley with Snowdon to the south of us, but at the pass where I’d have liked to have stopped for a break there was an event on so we were moved on. I wanted to stop in Betws-y-coed for lunch but they were charging to park so we drove on to Lake Vyrnwy and had a hot cheese and tomato baguette at the Artisan cafe for £5.95, not cheap. A bird hide nearby had a feeding station with lots of activity including a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin and a Marsh Tit. A drive along the lake to the two other hides didn’t add much so I ended with 19sp. we then took the tortuous route over the moors from the back of the lake to Dollgelau and down to the Llwydr Manddach trail that runs from the toll bridge at Penmaenpool, but in the late afternoon there wasn’t much happening and I only got 5sp. We headed for Machynleth to our Airbnb host on the main road of town, got settled in then went to the local Co-op supermarket for our £3 meal each.

 

26/6     158miles

We had our free breaky and were on the road a bit late for the short drive down to Ynys Hir, but we were still too early for the visitor centre to be open, so wandered around the trails for a while, then went back to the centre to get the low down on what to do and walked out along the red trail to the hide overlooking the estuary, but there wasn’t much happening, by the time we got back it was time to go, 22sp. The only highlight was watching a fox hunt, it pounced into the grasses on the side of the track twice and twice came out with a mouse sized animal in its mouth, which just goes to show what great hunters they are. We got some excellent cheese and pickle toasties and a very ordinary sausage roll from The Old Swan Tea Rooms in Rhyader and went down to the Elan river park to eat them, then went for a short walk along the trails, there were Grey Wagtails and a Jay here, both too shy to get a photo of, 12sp all up. Down through the Brecon Beacons on the A749 which is unspectacular to Nagshead reserve in the forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. There are two hides here the upper one is a bit dry at this time of year but the lower one had plenty of water and we spent an hour or so watching things come and go from the waterholes including Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher. There was a family of Wild Boar, which are feral here too, and we saw what was probably the melanistic Fallow Deer, 11sp of bird all up. Down to Chepstow to our Airbnb host for the night, once we were settled in we went down to Tesco’s for our £3 meal each supplemented by some stuff from their reduced to sell items 16p for 4 donuts! We went down to the river to eat then back to the house where we chatted with our host until very late.

27/6    90miles

There was more chatting with our host as we ate our free breaky and left at 8.30. I’d expected a toll going over the Severn bridge but the toll is only on the west bound lanes, we went around Bristol on the freeway and went to Bath, we parked in the 3hr carpark at Morrison’s supermarket and walked in to the Roman baths, there is a £17.50pp charge to get in, but it’s an interesting place, and nearly worth the price. We just got back in time to buy some lunch at the supermarket. The carpark is camera monitored and if you go over the 3hr limit there is a £85 fine. We drove down to Ham Wall RSPB just out of Glastonbury and spent the afternoon at the wetlands, mostly in the two main hides. I got 32sp with Kingfisher, Little Egret, Great Egret and Hobby Falcon as notables. It was a short drive back to Glastonbury to our Airbnb host on the southern outskirts in a refurbished 15thC house with worn stone steps and floor quarry tiles, we settled in then went in to town to buy Chinese from Peking Palace, there was plenty of food for the £15 but the rice was only rice and egg, the sweet and sour was only some fried chicken and prawns in thick dough and a separate sauce and the beef in oyster sauce with bean shoots was just that, no onions or peppers etc. Not enough variety for a meal.

28/6    150miles

After our couple of pieces of toast each we said goodbye to our excellent hosts and headed east to take a quick look at Stonehenge, the official entry costs £17.50pp but we found that if you drive about 1 mile east of the monument on the A303 you will find a farmers entrance, there is room for one car that doesn’t block the farmers entrance to his fields, one can then walk back along the right of way through the fields to the monument, one can’t get as close as the paying public, but it’s free. We then used the freeways to get to Edenbridge for lunch by the river, then wandered through another historic town until it was time to go to Hever Castle, our  destination for the night. This is the home of such people as Anne Boleyn and The Astor family. The hotel is in the Astor wing that was added in the 1920’s by the Astor’s. The room is really nothing special for the £140 price tag, but we get free access to the castle and after hours access to the gardens which is worth £17.50pp. There is reasonable access to much of the castle and the gardens are vast. We had bought our £3 Tesco meal at Edenbridge earlier and we walked down to the lake to eat.

29/6   63miles

After a marvelous breaky Bev went exploring the grounds of the castle again, I relaxed in the common room until midday when we headed off to Sevenoaks Tesco to fill up the car at £1.269ppl and then did the crawl along the M25 to Heathrow airport that was more stop than start. It’s not a good idea to be running late for an airplane here. We checked in to the Ibis hotel which cost £80 and is the cheapest in the ring around the airport where one can catch a free bus to the terminals from. We dropped the car off at Avis and walked the short distance back to the hotel. We emerged briefly at 18.00 and walked down to the Hot Spot fish and chip shop for a rather ordinary but cheap hamburger and chips. We have an early flight tomorrow back to the cold of Melbourne after 8 days with the sun shining brightly and temps in the high twenties every day, the Brits are melting.

We have at least 2 weeks rest in Melbourne before we try to find work somewhere. Look out for the blog of the trip  to wherever!

If you would like to contribute the the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort.